Siren
by Jeralee
Summary: Dante accepts a job to retrieve some stolen merchandise from black market traders, but this 'merchandise' isn't exactly what it appears to be. Dante x OC. COMPLETE.
1. The Amnesiac and the Devil Hunter

This is probably one really stupid idea and I am aware there are stories out there that start the same typical way as mine, but it is different and I'm at the stage where I just want to share my ideas with everyone, and honest to god, I have no idea if Dante is OOC here. If anyone has any constructive criticism that's cool with me.

Anyway, moving on. There is some adult situations and strong language here. I hope you enjoy the prologue. Please give this story a shot. Reviews are always appreciated.

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

"Mmphhh…"

She awoke to warm sunlight flooding in through the gaps of the drawn blinds, then blinked tiredly, and rubbed at her eyes groggily as she glanced around.

_Where am I…?_

She was in an unfamiliar room…

…in an unfamiliar bed…

Immediately, she gasped and sat up. The strong, thick, muscled arm that was draped around her waist flopped to her lap. She threw her gaze down, her jaw hanging in mid-air, and she gawped with widened eyes at the giant fist, her trembling eyes staring at the callous fingers and the half-bitten fingernails. The arm belonged to a man who was snoozing beside her (the entire time!), his face shielded by the pillow as well as sinewy strands of silvery-white hair that curled to his shoulders. Her stomach tightened when he let out an inaudible groan, grumbling about 'strawberry sundaes' or whatnot, but then he gradually settled into silence, snoring lightly. Confused and scared, she inched away from the stranger as slowly and quietly as she could, before she carefully lifted up the blanket once again, and glanced down at herself.

Naked…

She was completely and utterly _naked_!

Jaw dropping for the second time, she hastily slipped out of the bed and draped the blanket to cover her previous spot. Once her feet touched the dirty tiled floor, she rubbed at her toes with her other foot and shivered, then glanced around. Where was she? What was this place? Why did it smell so funny…? The room was a complete mess… the bed itself was a mess. It was pushed against the wall under the window and the man who still hadn't thankfully awakened didn't even fit. She could see his feet sticking out from under the covers… What a sloppy place…The tiled floor was littered in CD cases, clothes, empty Jack Daniel's bottles, socks and old music magazines. The walls were peeling and the corners were yellow, with cracks in the ceiling too, and an old, dusty fan was swinging above them. She swallowed down lightly as soon as her eyes caught sight of the poster of a topless woman stuck on the door that apparently led to the hall. As the ill feelings and disgust continued to surmount in the pit of her gut, she stepped back and her heel dug into something wet and mushy.

Throwing her gaze down shakily, she realised she had stepped into a slice of mouldy pizza.

_Oh my gawdd!_

As she lifted her foot and stared with a twitching eye at the smelly cheese and tomato sauce dripping off her heel and onto the floor, she felt tingly shivers run down her spine and whimpered. It was then she also realised she didn't remember anything from last night…except that it hurt a lot 'down there', there were a pile of tiny, empty plastic wrappers, and there were a lot of clothes carelessly strewn around. Hm, what could that possibly indicate?

Panicking, she hopped away from the festering food and empty wrappers and grabbed the first item of clothing she laid her eyes on - a black shirt - that was hanging off a broken chair and stepped over to the medium-sized cracked mirror that was hanging on the wall.

She stared at her reflection, inspecting herself anxiously.

She had long brown hair, and green eyes. She looked normal enough. She brushed away her bangs to see a large bruise on the top of her forehead, near her hairline. She rubbed at it with her finger gently and winced when it hurt. She tried to remember what may have happened but nothing came up.

Nothing.

Then, her eyes widened upon the realisation.

_I can't remember. No, not just that.…What's my name? _She blanched. She didn't know…she couldn't remember._ How old am I? I-I don't know that either_._ Where do I live? Where are my family? Who am I?_

She began to panic, and turned to the shelf beside her; she found a brown bag, grabbed it, checked if it was empty, before breathing laboriously into it. Once she regained her breath and calmed her nerves, she heard the man on the bed grumbling incoherently again, and she stepped away from the mirror, then instinctively squatted down on the floor, watching the man keenly from her safe level.

He was waking up!

She heard the silver-haired man let out a low, rumbling groan from the back of his throat before he rolled to the side, patting the empty space beside him. His eyes fluttered open and he sat up, the covers falling off him to reveal a fine, sculpted chest. Now that she had a better, closer look of him, she found that he was attractive. Very attractive. Handsome. No, those words did not even do him justice. She found herself staring at him, transfixed, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight before her.

"Babe?" He slurred; he was searching for her blindly. No doubt, he was probably still half-asleep, or maybe drunk. "…Baby, where are you?"

She snapped out of her staring stupor and looked up; when he spotted her, his lips tugged upwards into a devious smirk. He lowered himself over the blanket, his face inches from her and she routinely moved backwards in response. He was…maybe a little _older _than her. He was definitely handsome, yes, but she knew more than to judge a book by its cover.

"There you are, babe. What are you doing down there?" purred the sexy, silver-haired man; he held a lot of affection in his voice and she continued to stare at him numbly, if not, a little warily. "C'mon, crawl back in with me. It's getting cold without you to warm me up, baby."

As he reached over to touch her; she automatically ducked away from him, "Who are you?" She asked.

He began chuckling, "Babe. It's too early in the morning for games."

"_Who are you_?" She asked again.

"You don't remember?"

She didn't respond, except give him another blank stare.

The man chuckled louder and returned to lie on the mattress, settling down with his arms clasped behind his head on the pillow. "Damn. You must've hit your head pretty bad last night."

She touched her bruise. "What happened last night?"

"What do you think? We were-"

"No-" She didn't want to listen and turned away.

"-and you banged your head off the headboard." He finished.

She flinched. "That's impossible. I don't believe you. I wouldn't do that. Not with a stranger."

He turned to face her. "Baby, we're not strangers. I saved your life last night and you wanted to reward me. Now are you going to get in and get warm with me or are you going to freeze your ass out there? C'mon, I could do with another round."

Biting down on her lip, she stood up hastily. Without a word, she spun on her heel and ran out of the room, clutching the black shirt to herself. Oh, so that was what she was. A prostitute. A whore. She couldn't believe it…

"You're leaving me? After everything we went through together last night? Tch, so cold…" He mused leisurely with a grin; but when she didn't come back, he glanced up. "…Babe?"

"Stop calling me that!"

She sounded far away. He abruptly got up and rolled off the bed to follow her, grabbing his jeans that were discarded near the foot of the bed before he began stuffing his legs into each respective pant-leg. He left his room to see that she was already halfway down the stairs. "Damn it." He cursed loudly.

She ignored him as he pursued after her; she buttoned up the shirt as she trampled down the stairs but she stumbled on the last step thanks to her oily heel (from stepping into the pizza slice from before), and promptly rolled down and collapsed to the ground. After she quickly picked herself up, she glanced around the large, spacious lounge. There was a desk at the far end of the room along with a dusty, dirty sofa, a fridge and a jukebox. Numerous skulls of strange monsters and creatures she had never seen before were hanging up on the wall beside a pink neon sign saying 'CLOSED' that was crackling with electricity from a stinted wire. Eventually, she found what appeared to be the front door and she made a frantic dash towards it; as soon her hand landed on the handle, she turned back round, spotting the half-dressed, but still-shirtless man at the top of the stairs.

"Babe, don't do that. You'll break my heart if you leave." He called down, holding his arms up questioningly before he lifted himself up to sit on the wooden banister, "Calm down, alright? Hear me out first."

She turned to the door, then swerved her gaze to the man again. Her hand impulsively tightened on the handle.

"I get it, I get it. You've woken up. You hit your head pretty hard and you can't remember. You're scared. You haven't had anything to eat…and right now, you're naked, you have no money, and you have no home, so why don't you step away from the door, and – " He stopped to sigh under his breath, "Listen. You were up for sale at the auction because your previous owner was killed, and I saved you from a gang of black market traders. I saved you from that kind of life. For now, you are living here, and I'm looking after you."

"Here? What is here? What is this place? Who are you?"

He ran his free hand through his unruly hair while she stood in his black shirt. Damn, she looked pretty hot in his clothes. He said, "My name is Dante. I'm a devil hunter."

"Devil... hunter?" She cocked her head to the side in response.

"Yeah. You know, things that go bump in the night. The monster in the closet. The thing under the bed. I hunt them, and this is my shop." Then he added, "I'm not a bad guy." He mentally kicked himself for saying that; it didn't sound like something he would say at all, and if Lady or Trish were here, they'd be laughing at him until their sides hurt.

She was still staring at him with those large, waif-like green eyes of her, but then – "I have no idea what you're talking about." She turned away and jerked open the door, then slammed it shut behind her.

"Ah…" He began, as he stared at the door; his fist clenched tightly and he rammed it against the wall. "Damn. Smooth move, Dante."

He proceeded to leap off the rail and land on the floor with a loud 'thud!'; the walls shook from the impact and one of the skulls fell off its hook, clattering to the ground. He didn't seem to care. Striding in long, heavy steps, he casually strolled over to the coat rack and grabbed his red trenchcoat off one of the hooks and pulled it over himself, before reaching for a large gray sword that was perched atop a rack.

"Well," He mused, as he swung the hefty sword over his shoulder with minimal effort, "Better get the merchandise back…"


	2. Being Chased is Not Fun

Hello again ~ Thank you for the reviews and alerts and favs. Yes, Dante was OOC in the worst possible way I guess. I've toned him down. Your words of wisdom has not fallen on deaf ears. This is Chapter 2. Please enjoy ~

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

It was a stupid idea to leave the shop.

She realised she'd rather deal with the strange silver-haired man than walk around with nothing else on but a long shirt. Surely she'd die from pneumonia soon if she didn't find someplace warm. She stormed down the street barefoot, with no clue where to go, staring at the 'Bull's Eye Bar' and a sign saying '13th Avenue'; she was stupid enough to believe her lost memories might return to her, but when they would, she was not so sure. Memories would not help her here regardless. Money would, so she could get a taxi and at least_ leave_.

"Hey there, little girl." Her shoulder was suddenly grabbed from behind and she was abruptly stopped in her tracks. A woman in a tight-fitting top and miniscule skirt and sequined jacket with a purse hanging off her shoulders had sauntered in front of her, eyeing her from head to toe. "You're looking kinda _lost_."

The street in which the so-called devil hunter's shop had to be conveniently built on was exceptionally shady. His rent must be low, if that was the case, due to the amount of undesirables inhabiting the area. She had passed several women dressed in the same manner who were lurking around the streets with lit cigarettes in hand but she didn't think much about it until one of the women had walked up to her and spoke to her.

She replied, "I'm not lost."

"Are you sure?" The woman pressed on; the group were standing near a tall building called '_Love Planet_'. "Where you from? I haven't seen you before…"

She said nothing except shrug herself out of the woman's hold, backing away slowly.

"Hey, where ya going, sweetie? Don't you wanna hang with us big gals?" The woman teased, before she burst into laughter, and the rest of her friends who had been watching began tittering, too.

She clutched the shirt tighter to herself and spun on her heel; she ran as fast as she could away from the bizarre ladies, throwing constant looks over her shoulder. Good, they were not following, only smiling spitefully at her. It was too early in the morning for this. She couldn't believe it… What kind of place was this? Surely she did not belong here.

As she threw another glance over her shoulder, her foot accidentally got caught on a slab and she tripped. Her knees and palms took the brunt of the fall and she slammed to the cold, clammy sidewalk near a fire hydrant. Wincing, she pulled herself back up, inspecting her bleeding knees, palms and elbows.

She tried to ignore the pain and lifted herself off the ground to round a corner that led to an alleyway, limping slightly. She only came to a stop to squat down on the dirty ground; she proceeded to strategically sit down with the shirt covering her as much as possible and inspected her feet only to realise they had begun to bleed slightly. She grabbed at her foot before rubbing off a few dirty morsels and stones out of the cracks of her toes. Then, she sighed.

She wanted to go home.

She wanted to go home so badly…If only she could remember where home was. She felt alone and so very sorry for herself all of a sudden. No matter how hard she tried to remember, her mind merely drew a blank. This was hopeless…she may as well return to the shop right now and try at least get herself sorted out… She sniffed again and huddled to herself as she stared at the roaring cars whooshing past on the main road nearby. Glancing around, she clutched at the black shirt around her and sneezed.

_Cold…_ She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, then gasped.

She brushed away the blood from the fall from earlier to see something reflecting off the mild sunlight. On her kneecap, was a shiny… _scale_…? She had no idea where it came from, or when it even appeared. It certainly wasn't there before.

There was not only one, but a couple grouped together. At first, she stared at the little cluster of shiny scales for a long time, then she reached over carefully and prodded at them with her finger. They were a bluish-green, slightly transparent and as she poked and pushed at them, one fell off and promptly drifted to the ground. She then began to pull the scales off one by one enquiringly despite the dull pain. As soon as she chipped the last scale off with her fingernail, she gawped at the little bubble of blood and broken skin and the trail of… slime?

"Urgh…" She exclaimed in disgust at the gooey mess left on her shins. "…What's happening to me…?"

Then she noticed more scales on her other kneecap. She gasped again and attempted to pull them off just as she did to the other group, but she was interrupted by ear-splitting, scratching noises closeby, identical to the sounds of metal scraping off the ground.

_What was that?_ She looked up to listen, having temporarily forgotten the scales on her flesh. _It sounds like its getting closer…_

xxxxxxxx

Dante kicked open the doors and stepped out.

There was no sign of her.

"Damn." He murmured under his breath, "…She just left a second ago. Where could she have run off to?"

He sidled into the street only to be stopped by a couple of women lurking at the corner of Love Planet. "Hey Dante, you're up nice and early for a change."

"Hey, ladies." He greeted them warmly, "You seen a cute girl around? She's this tall…'bout this height…with brown hair and green eyes…wearing nothing on but a black shirt?"

With his description of the missing merchandise, the women chatted amongst themselves lightly before one replied, "Yeah, Lila thought she was a new girl at the Love Planet and tried to speak to her but she ran away."

"Which way did she go?"

"She went that way."

He thanked the women, who smiled and giggled as he strolled past. He appreciated the help he could get from all sorts of various sources nowadays. After protecting the Love Planet from a demon invasion one particular night, the girls and the owner had always been his extra pair of eyes and ears on the streets. No more dead prostitutes. He followed the direction they had pointed him to only to come at a corner that led to the main road.

A pair of bloody footprints could be seen going round the corner...

_She must've come this way…_

Dante followed the trail, coming to a stop when he could see a familiar girl up ahead. Ah, there she was. Of course she would not get very far, not in her state. To his surprise, she was running towards him. Although, when she caught sight of him, her eyes widened and she stumbled slightly in her pace.

"Babe, I knew you would come back to me." He said, holding his arms out; she crashed into him despite her attempts to slow down, and he slid his arms around her warmly. Immediately, she was wriggling in his grip uncomfortably, "Babe, what's wrong?"

She was pointing frantically behind her, "I'm being chased!"

A loud screeching noise grabbed his attention and he turned to where she was pointing to see a pair of creatures with deformed features moving in jerky-like movements. Scarecrow demons. He had to admit he hadn't seen one of those for some time. He briefly remembered the many times he'd killed countless of these lesser, weaker demons. Despite how menacing and dangerous they looked with their swinging blade-like limbs, they were pushovers.

"Babe, this is what happens when you run." He said, as they advanced closer and closer, "Ugly ass creatures come after you."

"What are they?"

"I'll fill you in later." He manoeuvred her to a safer corner despite the confused look she was giving him, "For now, I want you to stay put."

She was deposited behind a dumpster. "What are you going to do?"

"What I'm good at." He winked at her, before he casually sidled over to the lesser demons and thrust his sword into the ground, "Just two, huh? I thought there'll be more lurking around. Where's the rest of your little buddies? I could do with some morning exercise."

Just then, a couple more of the Scarecrow demons materialised from the ground, rounding the total up to eight, or nine. Dante grinned.

"This is more like it."

The Scarecrows lunged for him; he dodged with supreme agility and ease, and with a giant swing of Rebellion, Dante caught the first Scarecrow as he leapt over it from above and split it into two. As he landed on the ground, another Scarecrow slammed its limbs forwards and its blade lodged fast into his chest. Dismissing the assault, Dante used the opportunity to get close to the demon, and slammed Rebellion into its body, before promptly swiping it in half. The blade was still stuck inside him, however. He watched it teeter-totter backwards on its stilted legs before dissolving into dark mist.

"Too easy!" He yelled, as he whipped out his two handguns and with his finger curled around the trigger, he pummelled a hail of bullets into one unsusceptible Scarecrow into oblivion before using Rebellion once more to decimate another.

The remaining Scarecrows followed the same fate, and as soon as he was finished dispatching the last Scarecrow, he watched it erode away into dark shadows and returned his sword to the sheath strapped to his back.

"Well, that takes care of that." He said, and he turned round to see that she was missing again. He cursed and followed the new trail of bloody footprints once more, where they stopped at a dumpster nearby. He inched over to see her sitting against the wall with her knees clutched to her chest. "Babe." He called; he had actually forgotten her name so he figured this would have to do for now.

She looked up, and threw a shaky glance to the silver-haired man, who had a large Scarecrow-scythe stuck in his chest. "Ah! You're…" She stood up and pointed to the scythe, and he glanced down at his chest.

He raised an eyebrow, then grabbed it and with a casual tug, he pulled it out, then tossed it to the ground effortlessly. A spurt of blood followed the action, but he rubbed at the wound and it gradually cleared. She stared at the spectacle with widened eyes. He was not normal. Humans would die from an injury like that. How this man could be still standing was beyond her knowledge!

Dante removed Rebellion off his back, and began to take off his jacket; she stepped back cautiously, and with the trenchcoat in hand, he moved forwards. Again, she took another apprehensive step away until her back was pressed against the wall.

"This is the last time I'm going to say this: _I'm not gonna hurt you_." Dante draped the coat around her and she stared numbly, before she instinctively clutched his coat tighter to herself in a bid to get warm. "Can't have you running around naked now."

"...What happened to those thingies?"

Thingies? She must mean the Scarecrows. "What matters is I'm here. You're safe now." He replied.

"Thank you."

He leant off her and glanced around the empty alleyway, grabbing his sword before throwing it into the air and catching the hilt effortlessly in his palm as it fell back down. She had to admit; the man had style. He swung the giant blade over his shoulder, then kicked at a discarded plastic bag away from his path. "Don't sweat it." He said, as began to saunter out of the alleyway. "Just doing my job."

She watched his retreating back, then found herself waddling after him. "Are you okay?" She asked, as she joined his side.

"You mean this?" He rubbed at the wound on his chest again, and her eye twitched slightly when he prodded at the fleshy cut, "It's just a graze."

"But it was…"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

He turned to her and grinned, "Yes, I'm fine. _Don't worry_."

"…What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, aside from the fact that I want my shirt back, did you really think I'd let you waltz out like that?"

She blinked owlishly at him, then blushed, "…Oh. By the way…what were those things?"

"Demons or devils; whatever you want to call them…you're welcome to take your pick." He merely replied, "I told you I was a devil hunter."

"That's…That can't be…but demons – "

"_Do_ exist."

It was too much to soak in for one day. She found herself blurting out, "Why were they after me? What did I do?"

"Heh, it's not your fault, sweetheart. It's 'cos I stole you and they sent those sons of bitches after us…but they won't take you off me that easily. Look, I already told you this before. It's up to you if you believe me." He replied; she _was_ beginning to believe him. He added, "Until then, if you stick by my side, babe, you'd live a little longer."

"Uh…huh…" She said slowly. "Who's 'they'? The black market?"

"Pretty much, yep. Huh, you weren't kidding with the whole amnesia thing. You really don't remember?"

She fidgeted slightly on her spot, then threw her gaze to the ground. "You mentioned an 'owner' earlier on. Why did you mean by that?"

"Listen, babe, this isn't exactly a good place to talk. Let's go back to the shop, alright? I'll order some pizza and – " He paused in his sentence when she wobbled slightly on her spot before she collapsed, her knees going under. "Whoa!" His arms shot out and he caught her before she fell, his arm wrapping tightly around her waist as she flopped against him, eyes closed. He shook her firmly to elicit a response, "Babe? What's wrong?"

She didn't respond.

He brushed her bangs away and placed a gloved hand over her forehead only to jerk his hand away immediately. She was freezing! He grabbed her hand next; her hand was freezing too, her little fingers as cold as ice.

"Babe, don't scare me." He patted her cheek lightly but she did not respond at all; even her lips were turning slightly blue. "Uh oh. Not good."

Her mouth moved slightly.

"What was that?" Dante moved himself, pressing his ear close to her parted lips.

"…_Wa…ter_…" He heard her mumble out.

"You need water?"

She nodded weakly.

He manoeuvred her so he was carrying her properly and looped an arm under her knees while the other went around her back. "Hm, you're quite heavy for your size. Guess looks can be deceiving, huh?" He adjusted her again, and then began to carry her out of the alley. "Alright, let's get the hell outta here."


	3. Mia

Thank you for reviewing/alerting and faving! I've watched a couple of Youtube videos of ingame cutscenes; I have played Devil May Cry 1, 3 and 4 a looooooong time ago so I don't remember much :'( I even re-watched the anime again for a good feel. Hmm, also, I'm not sure what it is but I am not entirely satisfied with how this chapter turned out.

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

She woke up later feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

Groaning, she opened her eyes dazedly to discover herself in a bathtub that was filled with cold water up to her shoulders. At first, she wasn't sure whose bathtub it was but she remembered the devil hunter had found her before she could leave the precinct and had, most likely, returned to his shop.

Carefully, she checked herself to see that a large portion of her calves were covered in those scales and the same colourless, slimey substance – this time, the scales had a faint, orangey-golden tint. To her surprise, however, the scales immediately slipped off her skin as she attempted to touch them and dropped into the water, dissolving into a thin and translucent, golden-orange membrane.

"A…a…arghhh!" came her strangled scream of horror as the watery goo pooled around her, glimmering like oil in water.

The door was promptly kicked open and the devil hunter at the doorway, but his only response was a stream of incoherent wails and gibberish spewing forth from the distraught girl in the tub.

Dante sighed and his hand retreated from the handle of one of his guns, "Calm down, babe," He said, as he sidled over to her, "Let's get you dried off first."

However, she wailed louder and hurriedly drew her knees to her chest and covered as much of her body with her arms, trembling. She was still in the shirt but it was clinging to her wet form. "Don't look!" She squeaked, unable to meet his eye.

She could hear him chuckling. "Alright," Footsteps could be heard leaving the bathroom. "Here."

Several items were tossed towards her and she caught them before they fell into the water, then held them up high. He had given her a clean white shirt, an old sweater and a pair of jogging pants.

"There's a towel on the rack for drying off."

Then he closed the door behind him, and she watched the door, as though expecting him to return. However, no such thing happened. When she deemed it safe to leave the tub, she clambered out, only to collapse - once her foot had made contact with the bathroom floor, an intense, sweltering pain shot up her legs making her knees buckle involuntarily.

The door opened again and Dante returned; he must've heard her fall. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked, as he went to her side.

"I…I don't know…" She checked her feet to see a large cut in the side of her foot. "Ahh…"

Aside from the big cut, there were a couple of grazes on her feet but in general, they should not be enough to render her falling to her knees. Strange. She was fine walking around earlier on. Now it felt as though a thousand needles were being shoved into the soles of her feet!

To her surprise, Dante held his arms out, "Here, I'll carry you."

She had no idea how he could remain so calm and collected at a time like this; but nevertheless, she watched him delve his arms under her and lift her off the floor. He didn't seem to mind that she was getting him soaked at the same time. She inwardly held in a breath when he looped her arm around his neck to lift her onto the floor before settling her to stand. It was no use; she staggered again, wincing in agony.

Dante caught her before she fell.

She pushed herself out of his hold, rejecting his offer. "I'm fine." She tried to make it to the door, taking one cautious step forwards. Again, as soon as her foot stepped over the tile, the pain came and she cried out, having to hold onto the rack for support.

"Are you now? You don't look too good to me." He mused, as he crossed his arms over his lean chest and watched her.

"I'm…_fine_…" She pushed off the rack in another attempt to walk only to stumble for the fourth time.

Dante shook his head, yet he was still grinning as though bemused by her feeble attempts to stand and walk. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" He pulled the towel off the rack and side-stepped around her casually; this time, she did not attempt to refuse him when he unfolded the towel and wrapped the fluffy material around her. She watched him silently as he slid his arms around her before picking her up easily.

"Why did you put me in there?" She asked, pointing to the tub.

"You said you needed water." He pointed out flatly.

She wondered if he had seen her scales but decided not to ask. Instead, she said, "…How long was I out?"

"Long enough." He carried her leisurely out of the bathroom and down the hall and into the bedroom before depositing her onto his bed, making sure her feet didn't touch the ground, "I'll come back once you've finished getting dressed."

"Wait – " She was too slow - he had already left the bedroom. She retreated her outstretched hand and sighed, then quickly removed the wet shirt, pulled on the clean one and jumper provided, along with the baggy pants. As she fitted the pants over herself, she brushed her fingers over the skin of her legs. There didn't appear to be any scales. Good, she was afraid that Dante would see should one decide to pop up.

Downstairs, and she could hear Dante talking…on the phone?

"_Hey, I need you to do me a favour_." He was saying, followed by, "_I know I still owe you from that previous job but there's no need to bite my head off. Just need you to stop by with some women clothes, that's all_."

There was another pause.

"_Yeah, come to the shop with some women's clothes._"

Another silence.

_"Hey, don't get the wrong idea now, its not for me."_

Then the phone was slammed down.

She glanced up when she heard footsteps scaling the stairs, and she watched the open doorway. Dante returned to lean against the doorframe. At first, she stared at him like a deer caught in headlights, and when he took a step forwards, she backed away towards the corner. Eventually, he stopped by the bed and sat down. She scooted away again when he lifted his legs, kicking his boots off, and she squeezed her eyes shut as he neared, but nothing happened.

Re-opening her eyes, she realised he was now merely lying on the bed beside her with his arms resting comfortably behind his head. She waited for him to do something, to say something, but he didn't do any of the sort. No, he lay very still with his eyes closed, his chest rising lightly with each gentle inhale and exhale.

"…Dante?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

He rolled over to lie on his side and she scrabbled away again automatically. However, she noticed he had actually created some space for her on the edge of the bed at the same time. "Sure. Fire away."

"How did we meet?"

"I do all sorts of odd jobs now and then. For your case, it was no exception."

"How am I an 'odd job'?"

"There were a few complications. First, you'd been stolen by black market traders. Second, your owner was killed, and third, the guy who paid for your safe return said he bought you but then you were stolen, which brings us back to square one."

She tried to make sense of what he had just said. A man had paid Dante to save her from black market traders. Before that, he said she had an owner who was killed. "What owner?" She asked.

"Some guy used to look after you; that's what you told me."

"Who was he?"

He shrugged.

"Why was I stolen?"

"Beats me."

His responses were more than unsatisfactory, and she had the feeling he was not telling her the entire story. The picture was still a blank, like a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces, and the more she sat and listened, the more confused and angry she became. This was as much as she could handle in one day.

"_So what's my name?_" She demanded next, her voice on the verge of exploding.

The room went silent following her question, but eventually he said, "Mia. Your name's Mia."

"…Mia?"

"Yeah, that's right." He felt the mattress sink in and turned round to see that she was now sitting with her back to him.

"Mia…" She had muttered under her breath.

She saw a magazine on the bedside table that was flipped open to a particular section and reached out for it. At first, she held it in her hands and the pictures on the glossy pages were upside down. Turning it the way she thought was correct, she saw pictures of all sorts of clothes and beautiful, thin women on several pages. She squinted her eyes at the three letter word.

_…M…I…A…_ She read, with some difficulty. The word "MIA" was featured in bold lettering. "Did you take that name from this magazine?"

"Yep."

All this time, he didn't know her name? "Unbelievable…" She muttered as she replaced the paper, but she didn't mind. It meant he would stop calling her 'babe'.

"You don't like it?"

"No. It's fine." She replied, and he smirked. "So what happens now?"

"You stay here, until someone comes to pick you up."

"Who?"

He shrugged casually, "Maybe you'll find out when they come; personally I'd return you myself, but unfortunately, they didn't leave behind a return address. So we wait for them to call."

The newly-named 'Mia' nodded to herself in agreement. Yes, that was perhaps the best course of action, since she had no memory, no food or money to spare. She should wait and see what happens. She should wait and see who came to 'pick her up'. Maybe when she sees them, she will remember. It may be family. It may be friends.

"So until then…" He rolled over again so he was now facing her, "I'm going to get some shut-eye. Wake me if the phone rings."

She bit her lip. What if she needed something? How could she move? She felt trapped, trapped on the bed, and trapped with this guy nonetheless. Treading on the ground felt like her soul was being ripped apart in two. She was too afraid to go through with the intense agony.

Instead, she drew her knees up to her chest and glanced around, then back to Dante. She sat still for a long time, pondering about what would happen now, but then her eyelids began to droop… Before she fell, she jerked back awake and sleepily rubbed at her eyes. No good… it was no good to sleep while in a sitting position.

Nervously, Mia moved to slide down on the bed beside the devil hunter and lay there. However, she found herself too close to him for her liking; the bed was simply too small for the two of them. However, before she had a chance to move, a strong arm suddenly looped around her waist while the other went round her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"H-hey!" She was squashed up against him in an awkward manner, with her arm squished under her side and the other was free to do as she pleased. She attempted to push him away only to no avail, fighting him relentlessly by flailing around. "Let go…"

There was no response, but there was no way the devil hunter could be asleep so quickly.

"Dante, let go." Mia struggled again but eventually gave up when he would still not budge. Soon, she succumbed, having worn herself out and she lay motionless and exhausted, before gradually closing her eyes in a bid to sleep.

Minutes later and Dante re-opened his eyes to glance over at the girl. She appeared to have fallen asleep; he grinned and pulled the covers over the both of them tightly.


	4. The Hunger

I'm updating early because I don't have time to update later this week. Thanks for the reviews; they make me happy :) I've made this chapter a lot longer to push things along. All will be revealed soon, I promise.

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

He had a guest today at _Devil May Cry;_ a tall, thin girl dressed in a white-pinstriped shirt and black combat shorts. She also had short and choppy black hair and startlingly discoloured eyes, one dark-green, the other red. She had come to collect her due pay (which he did not have, as usual) and to drop off the bag of women's clothes Dante had subtly requested. Now she was interested in the 'job' Dante had recently accepted.

"So, I heard about your new job." said Lady, "How's it going? Are you having_ fun_?"

"Yeah, it's great."

"Come on, Dante. Stop being so damn secretive and tell me more."

"Alright, fine, since you asked so _nicely_." He replied, earning a scoff from the young woman, "Some dude asked me to find his stolen merchandise and it turned out to be a chick."

"A girl?"

"Yep."

"Where is she?"

"Upstairs in my room, sleeping."

"You sound happy."

"Why shouldn't I be? She's pretty, she's nice…and best of all, she didn't try to kill me when we met."

Lady snickered loudly as she crossed her arms over her chest and stopped by his desk, "She sounds_ lovely_. Are you sure she's real, and not imaginary? Did you wish really hard?"

"Very funny," Dante retorted dryly, "Oh, and she's my number one fan too."

"You? Have a_ fan_?" Following that comment, Lady let out a derisive snort and a stifled giggle.

"Why's it so hard to believe that a chick actually digs me?"

Almost immediately, she began counting using her fingers as she pointed out, "Well, can she see past your bad habits? Will she be able to tolerate your laziness, and the fact that you come home covered in blood every day? Oh, and that you're really poor and owe me a lot of money?"

"You're awfully chatty today, Lady. What's the deal?"

At that point, Lady turned to him and smiled lightly, "You interested in another job? Who knows, maybe this one can help you earn what you owe me."

xxxxxxxx

Back upstairs, and Mia woke up with a start.

Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, she glanced around Dante's room only to find him absent from the bed; she actually missed his presence for a change, but soon her attention was diverted from the missing devil hunter to the loud, albeit interesting conversation she could hear happening downstairs. Rubbing her eyes as the afternoon sunlight settled in, she sat up and glanced around, then her stomach gurgled.

_Need…food…_

She whimpered and rubbed at her stomach, then slowly crawled to the edge of the bed and glanced down at the floor. Dare she try and walk?

Under the bed, she found a pair of old black boots (most likely to be Dante's) which had been shoved to a deep, dark corner and held them upside down, shaking them, before she slid her feet into each respective boot. They smelled horrible but that was the least of her problems. She got up to stand and waited. Wearing boots or any sort of material over her feet didn't seem to ease the pain at all – rather it dulled it to some extent to make it more or less manageable - but she didn't let the blotted pain stop her. She plodded towards the door but gradually lowered herself to crawl slightly as the pain bested her, and once she was at the hallway, she crouched down behind the banister, staring through the thin bars.

A tall, thin young woman with raven-black hair was pacing around the large space of Dante's office while the devil hunter himself was casually seated behind his desk with his legs propped up. Soon, the dark-haired girl walked up to him and slammed a newspaper down on the surface near the telephone.

"Look at this." She said.

He eyed the headlines without moving his head, "Human Remains Found. What about it?"

"Read the rest."

"No, you read it for me."

The girl growled, mumbling 'damn lazy pig' under her breath while Dante smirked; she picked up the newspaper again and quickly skimmed through, "_Human remains were discovered earlier on this morning_…_A man's torso was uncovered... it was missing arms, legs and head_…There, that's what we're interested in. Don't you think it's worth looking at?"

Dante lifted his legs off to lean forwards in his chair. "Gimme that paper."

The girl smiled, "Yeah, I thought so too." She handed him the newspaper as he requested. He took it off her and then read the article himself. "I checked the crime scene. Police were swarming all over it, but I managed to get in."

"Did you get a good look at the body?"

"Yeah," said the girl, as she moved to the pool table before lifting up a cue and inspected it keenly, "Looked a lot like bite marks." Leaning forwards, she hit the white ball into one of the random multicoloured balls, making them go spinning in all sorts of directions.

"Hmm, so the poor guy was _eaten_."

The girl was nodding, "Yeah, and I think I might know what – _Oh_." She had paused in her sentence as soon as she caught sight of Mia, who immediately shuffled backwards as soon as she was spotted. After a few seconds of silence, she slowly crawled over to see that the black-haired girl was still looking at her direction. "Who's that?"

"Told ya she was real." Dante said, with a grin.

Lady put the cue on the table, and shifted on her spot, altering her weight from one foot to another, "Huh, so she is. Well, Dante? Aren't you going to introduce your little girlfriend to me?"

He looked up from the newspaper for a brief second. "Lady, this is Mia. Mia, this is Lady." Then he went back to reading as Lady turned to Mira directly.

"Hey, you should leave this hopeless guy before he ruins you financially." She said.

Mia blinked blankly while Dante growled. "Shut up…"

And Lady laughed at his response. "Fine, since you're in the middle of a job…more like, a 'meaningful relationship', I'll handle this one myself. Oh, and before I forget, the clothes you asked me to bring are in that bag; they should fit. See ya." She slipped the cue back to its proper place then proceeded to leave the shop after swinging her own hefty bag over her shoulder. She looked at Mia again and gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

Once Lady had left the shop, Dante put down the newspaper, got off his chair and sauntered to the bag on his couch which Lady dropped off for him. It was a large duffle bag with a zip top, which he hastily unzipped before delving a hand inside. He pulled out a black tank top, a pair of black combat shorts and a white shirt that looked a lot like the ones Lady wore. "Hm." He made a noise, before placing them back inside, "Hey, I want you to come here for a sec'."

She stiffened all over, before attempting to stand. As she wobbled, Dante strode over to the landing, watching her hold onto the banister for balance.

"You hungry?"

Mia nodded, gripping the handrail of the banister tightly. "Who was that?"

"An acquaintance. Are you _jealous_?" He teased, and she frowned at him as he walked up the stairs to see that she was wearing his old boots which had been his favourite until they were at the stage of falling apart. Chuckling lightly under his breath, he stopped shortly in front of her and crossed his arms. "How's the feet?"

"Still sore."

"Right then, c'mere."

"What?" Mia blinked when he reached for her and pulled her forwards. "Put me down. You don't have to carry me all the time-"

"Mm-hmm. Let's see you try and walk then." He replied, and she cringed furiously in response before slowly simmering into silent submission, "Comfy?"

She shot him a resentful look.

"No? Fine, let's give this a shot." He set her down in front of him, except he did not make her stand on the floor. Instead, he let her stand on his feet, chuckling when she glanced at herself awkwardly.

"…This…" She began uncomfortably, and when he moved one leg forwards, she squeaked and grabbed onto him by his trenchcoat, fearing that she would fall. "This is even worse!"

"Alright, then it's back to the carrying. Don't complain now."

She nibbled down on her bottom lip as he spooned her into his arms again and carried her through the hall and down the stairs. He was humming audibly under his breath, and she could tell he was extremely cheerful by the way he was grinning. On the other hand, she was blushing throughout the entire experience and her heart was thumping hard that it almost hurt. Every time Dante carried her, they'd be extremely close to each other, too close for comfort (for her case, anyway).

Once he arrived at the main office space, he manoeuvred to the couch and placed her down with her legs spread over the rest of the sofa before sidling to the fridge and pulling open the door. Mia crawled to the duffle bag and began pulling out all sorts of clothes.

"…These are for me?" She asked, as she rifled through. She found a few items which were a better shape and fitted-size compared to the clothes Dante provided for her and kept those by her side to be changed into for later.

"Yeah. Go ahead and try them on." He replied; he had been rustling through the fridge for some time. "Looks like the only thing I got is pizza. You're not on a diet or anything, are you?"

She looked up whilst inspecting a pair of knee-high socks before slipping them over her hands and down her elbows, "Diet?"

"Yeah."

"No, I'm not on a diet."

"Good, 'cos you don't need to be on one." He slammed the fridge door shut and returned to the sofa with a plateful of pizza in hand. "Alright then, let's eat. Budge over."

She blinked at him blankly, but when he moved forwards, she got the idea and shuffled away so he could sit down beside her (even though there was plenty of other spaces on the sofa where he could have sat).

"And take those socks off your hands." He added.

She pulled them off immediately, then eyed the red and yellow triangle pieces he had settled on the table suspiciously. "…What are these?" She carefully prodded at a slice with her finger. "What's it made out of? What is this…thing?" She was now staring intensely at the cheesy gunge on her fingertip.

He laughed loudly in response and she flushed, embarrassed. Perhaps it was best not to ask any more questions that would make her appear like an idiot… Dante picked one up and handed it to her; she took it by the crust and then stared at him expectantly. He said, "You've never had pizza?"

"No, I haven't."

Normally these instances screamed for a snide remark, perhaps something along the lines like '_What? You've never had pizza? Did you spend your life under a rock or something?_' but Mia looked like she was about to cry as she clutched the pizza slice in her tiny fist so he decided not to. Damn, she was one serious, solemn girl.

"You should try some. It's good."

She stared at the pizza for a long time, scrutinising it carefully with the precision and keenness that would match a scientist who had stumbled upon a new, world-changing discovery. She watched him eat, watched him eat it pointed-tip first, then tried it herself. As soon as she put it into her mouth, she knew she would not enjoy it, not because it was cold or because of the bizarre, foreign taste, but rather because… she just knew she would not be able to eat it. She could not explain how, or why…

And as soon as she took a nibble, chewed, and attempted to swallow, she gagged and slammed a hand over her mouth.

Dante watched as he continued chewing into his own slice. "What's wrong?"

Mia glanced at him, then flushed terribly before giving him a thin, watery smile. "N-nothing. It's good." She lied, and he grinned at her response and she blushed to an extent she thought impossible, her cheeks practically blazing with heat. Gazing at the rest of the uneaten pizza slice reluctantly, she felt rude for not being able to eat it, so she forced herself to swallow it down, no matter how much her body appeared to reject it.

"Do you have anything to drink?" She croaked out, hoping that a liquid might help ease it down.

He finished the rest of his pizza before sliding off the sofa to return to the fridge, "Sure, what do you want?" He pulled open the door and stuck his head inside and re-emerged with a brown bottle in hand. "Beer?"

"Can I get some water?"

"Coming right up, _Princess_." He said, winking at her as he passed her to enter the kitchen.

She watched him in confusion. _Princess?_ Will his nicknames never cease? A few minutes later and Dante returned to the lounge with a glass of water in hand. When he gave it to her, she mused to herself about how dirty the glass was around the rim, but she said nothing and took a few sips from a cleaner side. As soon as she downed half the glass in a couple of gulps, she turned to him. "What?" She asked, when she noticed that he had been watching her as she drank.

"Nothing."

She gave him an odd look, but brushed him off and moved to the edge of her seat.

"Hey, where you going?" He asked.

"I need to get more water."

"Then I'll get it for you."

"No, I'll do it this time. _I want to do it_."

"Are you sure?" He asked teasingly, as he watched her stare at the ground with a petrified look on her face. He almost chuckled until she let her foot down, and inhaled a sharp hiss of pain. "Don't hurt yourself now."

"I'll be fine." She barked, taking a step forwards. The pain was crippling but she forced herself to walk; even Dante had got up from his seat to follow her but she refused his assistance when he offered.

"Check it out. Baby's first steps." He remarked, and she cringed.

In the end, she managed to stumble in large but awkward strides all the way to the kitchen. Although she was panting and hissing in agony from the pain, a sense of triumph overtook her, and for the first time since she awoke in Dante's bed this morning…she smiled.

…although the smile gradually disappeared as soon as she glanced around the tiny room with the washing machine, dryer and a small, leaky sink all crammed inside. Where the fridge should be (which Dante had moved to the lounge), was a dark space and discoloured kitchen tiles. The electricity plug was filthy and hidden under a thick layer of dust and grime. The countertops seemed to not have been polished for a long time, and the oven and gas hob were in equally poor shape, too.

Nevertheless, the state of his kitchen was not her concern; she found what she was looking for and picked up the blue and white canister from the rest of the condiments, before emptying some of the little white grains into her glass. She gave her glass a quick shake, refilled it under the cold water tap, and then drank greedily, licking her lips.

Much better.

…too bad she was still hungry…

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and she almost leapt out of her skin; she was pulled into a tight embrace and the glass in her hand shook, making some of the saltwater she'd made for herself spill over the rim. "Dante?" She began nervously, when the devil hunter appeared behind her.

He put down his half-empty beer bottle on the counter beside her before burying his nose into her hair. Her breath stilled when she was forced to tilt her head to the side slightly. She could feel his hand pushing away some of her hair away from her neck and over her shoulder, and when his lips began to kiss her nape; she immediately put down her own glass and then grabbed his hands, trying to pry them off her. She said, "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't do that."

"What? You mean this?"

She began to panic when he deliberately increased his grip on her waist. "Y-yeah, that. Don't do that." If Dante was playing with her (and most likely, he was, judging by the fact that he was grinning at how flustered she had become), she didn't think it was funny at all. She let out a feeble "_Please?_"

"No." He merely replied.

"Yes." She rebuked sternly.

"No."

"YES."

"No~"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"No."

Dante grinned as she gasped at what he had just did. Reverse psychology or whatnot. "C'mon, you know you like it. Don't deny it." Even his voice seemed to have dipped and he sounded huskier than usual, making her shiver.

"Just stop it."

"Nope, don't think I will."

"I asked politely!"

"Yeah, I know. And the answer's still the same."

"And that is…?"

"No."

"Dante, you're so immature."

"Yeah, yeah…sticks and stones, babe. Sticks and stones…" He went back to nuzzling her affectionately.

Her heart began beating quicker. "Why are you doing this anyway?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Stop playing around."

"I'm not playing around. This is my kitchen, my shop, my office, my home. I can do anything I want, whatever I want, whenever I want. And I wanna do this." He replied coolly, before he made her turn round so she was facing him; he pulled her up flatly against him and she gasped when their noses practically touched.

She blinked numbly into his icy- blue eyes. "L-Look, I…I don't remember you. I'm sorry, but I-I don't." She stammered weakly; yet she did a double take as soon as what she had said sunk into her mind. She wondered why she was the one apologising…She did nothing wrong…

"Are you sure?" Dante was purring now, inching closer to her that he was leaning against her whilst keeping her caged between himself and the sink, "You don't even remember _this_?"

Without any prior warning, he suddenly crashed his lips over hers, and her eyes widened. He tasted like that wretched pizza, and the thing he called 'beer'. Along with those particular tastes, he also tasted like blood and musky cologne. The kiss was swift and fleeting as he pulled away that her lips were left tingling, the only intangible evidence that they'd had some form of contact.

She was speechless for a minute, her throat going dry, "…I…"

"No? Okay, what about this?"

This time, he kissed her deeper, wrapping his arms around the small of her back and her waist to pull her even closer to him than before. She made a muffled noise as he massaged his lips over her, and when he pulled away once again, he did not let go as he searched her face for a response; she was staring dazedly, but her eyes were lingering on his lips. He took this as his cue to cup her cheek with his large palm and he drew her close once more, their lips millimetres away from one another.

"Why…why are you doing this?" She murmured, her voice reduced to a low whisper. She inhaled a shaky breath, and the excruciating pain in the soles of her feet was rapidly forgotten, replaced with the ardent tension and friction Dante was creating.

"Damn it, Mia," He muttered, with his lips hovering near hers, "If I didn't like you, would I be doing all these things?"

"But…"

She trailed off when he neared her for a third time, but she did not inch away or turn her head to the side as he expected her to. Instead, she remained stiff, and when he used his thumb to trace her bottom lip, she threw her gaze down to his finger. Soon, his finger was replaced with his lips as Dante closed the gap between them once more. When their lips meshed together again, she didn't retaliate except close her eyes and let him kiss her. He smirked inwardly… he knew it all along…as much as she was cold, he knew she had feelings towards him, even if she did not remember him.

He kissed her with more force, and her hand - which had been clenched tightly by her side the entire time - unfurled as she relaxed, before she gingerly placed it over his chest. She could feel his beating heart…she could feel his muscles tightening, his pectorals clenching under his tight black shirt as she casually ran her fingers over the taut fabric. Did something like this lead to something else last night? But they were practically strangers! All she knew was that she did feel some form of fatal, perhaps sexual attraction towards the man despite their lack of knowledge of each other's personalities and personal lives. It didn't seem to matter anymore; it felt good to be in his embrace.

As they kissed deeper, she suddenly gripped the collar of his jacket, her fist clinching the fabric vigorously. She was the one who was now kissing with as much eagerness as he demonstrated earlier. She didn't even know why, but when she earned a chuckle from the devil hunter at her sudden aggressive streak, she pulled away and began pressing her lips against the side of his face; one of her hands were now weaving up and into his hair to entwine through his thick, silvery-white tresses.

"Baby, what's gotten into you?" He was murmuring, but when he grinned, she knew he wasn't complaining. He let his hands explore her, roaming over her body without abandon, and she grasped at his thick, muscular shoulders, massaging him gently with her fingers. She didn't seem to care where he was touching her…

Her thoughts were bombarded with how good he tasted… so very good…she kissed the thick, muscled column of his neck fervently, enjoying his taste. His skin was delicious, so luscious… Her heart was beginning to beat faster, and her breaths were becoming shorter, more ragged. She could hear his blood rushing through his veins, feel the warm flesh pulsate under his skin…her kisses soon became more hungrier and more desperate and then she lifted her mouth again, drew lips back wider and her teeth began grating against him and…

Mia withdrew hastily to stare at the teeth marks on his neck.

She had bit him.

But it wasn't a soft, gentle bite, or a little affectionate nibble. It was a large _crunch_, as though she had been intending to rip out a large chunk out of him. Dante glanced down as she began wiping at her wet lips, mortified. The entire time they had been kissing, she had been thinking about how _hungry_ she was.

However, to her dismay, Dante's grin merely widened, "If you wanna give me a lovebite, go right ahead."

"Wha…" She croaked out, before she turned away and hurried out of the kitchen without another word after muttering a quick apology. He dropped his grin and stayed in his spot in the kitchen, watching her return to the lounge and plop down onto one of the sofas, cradling her head in her hands in embarrassment.

She didn't see him wiping his lips and his neck.  
She didn't see his hand that had been tentatively placed behind him.

And she didn't see his hand slowly retreat away from the handle of Ebony that was attached to the back of his belt…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This is my first Author's note at the end of a chapter. I'd just like to get a few points across and that's…ONE, The conversation between Lady and Dante at the beginning had soooo much sarcasm it was hard to portray it in written form. TWO, this was quite fun to write but I'm not sure if what just happened there was OOC of Dante. Also, I guess having a kiss so early was rushed but I hope I have clarified the 'reason' with the last few lines of this chapter. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and review~

**- Jeralee**


	5. How They Met

**SIREN**

* * *

Dante returned to the living room in lazy strides to sit down closely beside Mia on the couch that the sides of their legs were touching as though what just happened in the kitchen never existed. At first, they sat in silence, and he watched her tense up at his presence. It was nothing out of the ordinary since he knew he could be quite the intimidating man to the opposite sex, especially towards the shyer, quieter girls (surprisingly, a rare breed nowadays).

He swung one hefty leg over the other and sat back, stretching comfortably, before sighing loudly with an equally relaxed 'ahhh'. Then he turned to her, grinning. "What's the matter?" His arm was on the back of the sofa but he snaked it around her, his hand on her shoulder, drawing little lazy circles.

She said, while covering her mouth unconsciously with one hand, "S-sorry." Her voice was shaking.

"Don't be."

"…Are you hurt?" Finally, she began to regain some composure.

"Me? Nah."

"Dante…." She began worriedly as he lounged leisurely beside her, "…Do you know what I am?"

It was an awkward question that popped out of the blue. "Maybe." He drawled, and she turned to face him in the sofa.

"Am I…"

"What?"

"Am I evil?"

And there was a silence, before the monotony in the shop was broken when he laughed. She cringed, as she watched him throw his head back, chuckling vociferously, almost uncontrollably. "Dante, I'm serious." She wailed, for what happened in the kitchen bothered her a great deal. As much as she didn't want to think about it, it was all she could think about at the precise moment.

Although her stomach wasn't grumbling, she knew she was hungry. The 'pizza' and 'beer' wasn't what she wanted. No, she had no interest in it whatsoever. What she had been interested in was Dante in front of her, standing close to her, with his arms around her and his neck for her taking. No, it wasn't just that, or his neck. It had been the flesh underneath, the skin, the meat. The bone. It made shivers run down her spine.

He glanced around his shop, watching the ceiling fan chug sluggishly above them; the blasted thing was useless. It didn't do anything in the summer and was only capable of spraying dust over their heads, "That's a weird question, Mia." He said, as he finally ceased his laughter, and she slumped in her spot, her mouth went slightly lopsided in a sullen pout. "Out of all the things you could be, _evil _is not one of 'em."

But how did he know that? Did he not realise that she had _bitten_ him back there, in the kitchen, with the sole intention of ripping out a huge chunk of his shoulder if she had the chance? There was no way in hell she could tell him what she was thinking. She didn't want to tell him she thought about…well…_eating _him. "But I don't feel right." She protested, holding a hand to her chest, "I feel cold. My body is cold. It hurts when I try to walk…and I feel like…a void…as though deep inside, underneath, there is…nothing. I feel nothing."

He watched her closely, and she threw her gaze down. "That doesn't necessarily mean you're evil." Out of all the girls he'd come across before in his life, Mia was probably the strangest.

"…Am I a demon?" She finally asked. Her voice was very quiet, very frail. It was as though she was about to fall apart any moment now.

He glanced at her then. "You know I'm a demon hunter, right?"

She nodded.

"And you're asking me if you're evil, and if you're a demon."

She knew how ridiculous it sounded, and in general, how ridiculous it actually was. The predicament didn't calculate very well in her mind. Either way, it might end up with Dante thrusting that gigantic sword (which she'd seen him use to tear apart other demons) through her chest. Yet, she still squeaked out, "Am I?"

After a long pause, Dante uttered, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" She choked out, "Oh my g-"

"God has nothing to do with it, baby." He said, and the more he observed her, the more he could see how pale she had become, how ashen and dull her face had become, and she began to shake. He wanted to draw her into his arms and hold her, to feel what she described as the coldness of her body, the swirling void underneath. From what happened yesterday and what was happening now, she had plenty of opportunities to prove him wrong.

"What kind of demon am I?"

"Hmm." With that, he made a noise from the back of his throat, "That's kinda-"

**Ring ring.**

She sprang upright at the sound and glanced over to his desk, where she could see the receiver of his old phone jiggling slightly, the cord wavering. Dante eased himself off the couch and towards his desk, before he picked up the phone, and waited. There was a silence from the other end, before a woman's voice said, "Your phone manner is atrocious." The voice was smooth, like velvet. He'd heard that velvety smooth voice countless of times by now.

He said, "Trish."

"Hey baby."

"What's up?"

He could almost hear her smiling. "Just thought I'd check up on you. I heard from Lady that you have a little piece of sugar sticking to you."

Dante brushed a hand through his hair as he listened, "News sure spread like wildfire."

"It can't be helped. So I guess it's true then."

"If you say so."

"Be nice to her."

"I'm always nice."

They talked more. Trish was working on her own, with her bounties, but she was tempted to go and see Lady to see the man-eater case. She chuckled, "I gotta go. Talk to you later, baby."

After they said their goodbye's, he put the phone down. The phone cord went swinging. He didn't mean to slam it so hard, but it was a force of habit. No sooner had a second passed and the phone was ringing again. He picked it up, the phone pressed against his ear. "What is it now?"

"I want the merchandise, Mr Dante."

A male's voice. The voice belonged to a middle-aged man, a man who came to Dante's shop not too long ago. "I was wondering when you were going to call." Dante replied.

"Yes. Mr Dante, I had the utmost faith in you; I trust you had no problems in retrieving the merchandise?"

"You mean the girl."

"…I'm sorry, there were a few things I had to omit."

"Yeah, of course. Just leave a few dirty details out of the job, like the fact that the merchandise is a girl who was trapped in a demon-infested warehouse."

"My master had forbidden me from speaking of it."

"You mean the girl?" He repeated again.

"Yes."

"It's not just a girl. Care to fill me in, Caleb?"

Again, there was a long, stony silence, before the voice sighed, "…I want the mermaid, Mr Dante. Would you bring her to me, please? I'll pay you handsomely, as agreed." The man named Caleb explained, "Take her to our mansion. I'll give you the directions. When you arrive, I'll tell you everything you need to know about her. She's not what she seems. She will use her charm, her beauty, to seduce you. She will do anything to trick you. She will feign innocence. She will act helpless. It is all to turn you against others, to gain your favor, your trust...to get what she wants. Be careful."

"I don't know who you're talking about, but Mia's not like that."

"I hope you don't mean that."

"Actually, I do." He said, upon hearing Caleb's horrified gasp. "Give me a reason to hand her over to you and your 'Master'."

"Will you at least hear what we have to say?" came Caleb's response.

"Then by all means, I'm listening."

"I'm afraid I can't discuss this with you over the phone. It has to be face-to-face."

"Then drop by my shop. You know where it is."

"No, I'm afraid I cannot come to you."

"You're really chancing it, aren't you?"

"Please, Mr Dante."

"...Fine." After the man on the phone had shakily given Dante the details of the location, Dante slammed the phone shut and turned to Mia, who had been watching him expectantly.

"Who was that?"

"The man who asked me to find you. Let's go; we're going on a little road trip."

She frowned at him. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on. Who were you talking to just there? How did you find me? Who asked you to save me, and why was I…why was I stolen in the first place?!"

Dante held his hands up in a bid to calm her as she grew more and more irate towards him, "Alright, alright, calm down first, Mi. Fine…I'll tell ya how we met…"

**xxxxxxx**

**1 day ago.**

**xxxxxx**

The door opened.

He did not look up from the magazine he was reading, but the silhouette of the person who had entered did not appear to be Morrison, Enzo, Lady or Trish. Instead, the person was lingering at the door, glancing around.

"Nature calls?" He drawled out his scripted greeting, without even looking at who had actually entered the establishment, "It's in the back."

"Are you Mr Dante, the Devil Hunter?"

Dante looked up ever-so-slightly to see a smart-looking man with raven black hair, slicked to the side with carefully applied amounts of gel; he was adorned in a charcoal-grey suit with a leather briefcase in hand. "…Who's asking?"

As the strange man pushed his old-fashioned spectacles further up his nose, he said, "I'm here on behalf of–"

"Then you should talk to my associate first."

"I do beg your pardon, but I thought the best way would be to contact you directly." said the stern-looking man who was looking around the shop keenly before finally settling his mousy-brown eyes on Dante. "Oh my, you certainly do fit the image."

"What do you want?" Dante demanded. However, he did not sound rude or impatient. Being nice to the client is key, Morrison once said to him. If he kept this up even Patty's customer-service skills would begin to rub off on him.

"I heard you're a private investigator… a detective…a jack-of-all-trades?"

"Pretty much." He replied, before he slammed the magazine shut and lifted his crossed legs off his desk. "What's the job?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked. You see, my Master – Master Laurent, Head of the de Chard Household, has had something stolen from him."

_de Chard_. What a pompous-sounding name, he thought. "Stolen?"

"Yes, my Master purchased a big and valuable, exotic fish that was caught off the coast of an island called _Tristan da Cunha_ during his seasonal boating trip." He said. "It was stolen when it was being shipped back to the mansion in Capulet City. The ship was intercepted and the unit was lost."

Dante yawned loudly. "Sorry, I'm not interested."

"Mr Dante-"

"If you want someone to retrieve your lost pets, your best bet is to call animal services."

"We can't. This is the black market we're dealing with. Animal services can't help us here." retorted the man.

"Black market, huh? Like the mafia?"

The man nodded again. "Yes, unfortunately," He replied gravely, "Master Laurent is willing to pay you as much as you desire, as long as his much-loved…_merchandise _come back safely. It is extremely valuable and fragile… Name your price for your service."

"Money's not the problem here." Dante replied, "What's with the fish?"

He took a while to reply. "It's a… _rare_ breed, that's all I can say. And it's extremely difficult to catch."

"And how long has it been missing? It's most likely they've already sold it."

"No, please don't say such things, Mr Dante sir." The man implored, and the devil hunter raised a sleek silver eyebrow. "Please, sir. Please have a look for us. We are in need of dire help here."

"Fine." Dante replied, and he got off the chair to collect Ebony and Ivory. "…I'll do it. I'll get your goldfish back."

"Oh, thank you, Mr Dante! Thank you so much…"

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The man who had come to see him introduced himself as Caleb. In his utmost impatience and haste, Caleb had requested Dante help them retrieve the lost merchandise _that very night_. Not that Dante had very much to do that particular night, either, so he agreed, although the easy money being offered... he still thought that this was a massive waste of his time and energy.

"We believe the shipment has been taken here, into one of these warehouses by the harbour." said Caleb, as he stopped his car outside two large iron gates. They had been driving for a long time now; they'd left civilisation and drove onto a desolate road, arriving to a stop at a group of clustered warehouses which were built to stand closely together, and surrounding them were the wrought iron gates.

"Anything else you wanna tell me?"

"One of the warehouses is built connecting to the ocean, and it is a…_ big_ fish. You can't miss it."

"What kind of fish is it?"

"What does a fish look like, Mr Dante?"

"So you have a sense of humour after all, Mr Caleb."

Caleb shot him a wry smile in response, "We hired an informant to infiltrate their operations, but he lost contact with us a few days ago."

Dante was sitting shotgun and he casually lifted his legs off the glove compartment, "Want me to look for him, too?"

"No need, your main concern is the merchandise."

"Merchandise." He murmured under his breath, "Alright, I'm going in."

"Wait-"

"What?"

Caleb unravelled a piece of paper from his suit pocket and unfolded it to its actual size to reveal a detailed map. The map contained highly detailed information about the warehouse that supposedly joined to the ocean. "Our informant sent us this before he disappeared." He said, "The shipment is most likely kept in some kind of cage that links to the sea. The fish–"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Give it here."

He handed Dante the map, who tucked it carelessly into his own pocket, "Very good. Be careful, Mr Dante."

He climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut, then sauntered towards the locked gates before bursting them apartwith a giant kick of his leg, despite the thick chain that was wrapped around the lock. When the doors swung open, he shot the CCTV camera screen into a pulp and made his way forwards only to be apprehended by a group of men pouring out from the security outposts, having sensed his presence. Immediately, a spotlight was shone on him from above from a large lighthouse-like tower a distance away.

"Whoops." He said, as they circled him with guns aimed directly at him.

"Who the hell are you?" barked one of the security guards.

"Just passing by." He said, "Is that not allowed?"

"Didn't ya see the 'No trespassing' sign, loser? Get outta here, you don't belong here, ya punk. We'll giveyou to the count of three."

Dante grinned and shook his head, "Sorry, no can do. You see, there's something here that doesn't belong to you, and I've been asked to take it back."

"Don't say we didn't warn ya. You're messing with the wrong people." Another guard yelled at him, "Go back where you came from right now!"

"Nope. I'm afraid you're going to have to move me by force; you're gonna have to release the dogs."

The men eyed each other warily, before one moved forwards and with his finger curled around the trigger of his gun, he began firing. Dante immediately evaded the incoming hail of bullets as the rest joined in; he whipped out his own – Ebony and Ivory – and began firing. In seconds, the majority of the security men had dropped down with numerous bullet holes in their tarnished bodies, and the remaining, unhurt guards glanced at their fallen comrades.

"Oh my god!" They were screaming, but Dante readied Rebellion in hand, holding it steady.

"You might wanna stand back…" He murmured, and the remaining guards gave him strange looks.

Immediately, the fallen began contorting, their bodies twisting and turning, and their human exterior burst apart to reveal horrifying, large, beetle-like creatures with bulging red eyes, talons and mandibles. They stood at the height of the warehouses themselves and the human guards were staring with trembling eyes, before - "WAAAARGHHH!" The human security guards began running away immediately, pushing past Dante hysterically in a bid to escape.

The devil hunter merely stood his ground, surrounded by a group of the beetle demons. "Heh, even when you guys are human you're still ugly." Dante said, before he grinned. "Now, let's play."

"_It's the devil hunter!_" One of them chattered through its mandibles, making a terrible clicking noise as a dark green gunge leaked out from its mouth and onto the ground.

"_We'll kill you!_"

"Not if I kill you first!" Dante yelled, as he dodged the swipe of its mantis-like claws. Grasping the handle of Rebellion, he swung the blade and slashed off a limb of one of the demons before directly swiping one in half vertically; the bug-like demons howled and toppled down to the ground in a pool of blood, defeated.

As soon as he was finished dispatching the rest of the demons, he made his way into one of the warehouses and kicked it open the same way he did to the gates – he stormed inside only to find it full of cargo boxes and other goods which weren't of his interest. The next warehouse was filled with the same things, too. After the third warehouse, he quickly scoured the area but there didn't appear to be any fish so he moved into the next one, kicking the door open to see a stairwell leading underground. He followed that particular set of stairs, noting the smell of unpleasant stench of seawater, and the little biting wind that confirmed the warehouse's connection to the ocean.

"Huh, there's nothing here." He murmured to himself as he found himself in a dark and dank underground tunnel which was lit up by a flame torch affixed to the wall. To add in effect, he grabbed it and held it front of him, and the light revealed a long stretch of a walkway, made completely out of wood – which seemed to lead further into the cave.

Just as he took a step forwards, a loud splash directed his attention further ahead of the underground pier. Someone – or something – was here. He walked forwards, hearing his heavy boots echo off the wooden planks, and stopped at the edge where he had heard the noise.

Although the tunnel was too dark that the water seemed as black as night, he could see below the surface very well. In the water, was a large expanse of wired fencing – like the same mesh-material of lobster cages –lying horizontal on the surface of the water. Each wired meshing seemed to hold a different type of fish. He could see the ghostly silhouette of various, and medium-sized sharks swimming inside, directionless and confined to their tiny space. One mesh cage contained a fish species which he could not really determine, but he could see their sharp spines sticking out of the surface of the water. Another mesh trap contained long and thin eels tangled together.

Further inside, and the cages became slightly larger since each wire 'fence' submerged in the water was a substantial length apart. Glancing down, he could see human faces zooming around in the water. Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were also fish too. Fish with human faces. Another cage – this time, it was perched atop a couple of barrels – and he could see fish inside. Where their fins should be, were two scaly human-like arms. They were using these 'arms' to stomp around the cage.

"That's just wrong." He uttered to himself.

As he advanced further, he could hear water splashing followed by a woman's desperate scream and he picked up his pace and began to sprint, abandoning the torch and dashing wildly through the darkness of the pier before he came to a stop. Two men, both holding torches, were seen ahead dragging something inside a net through the water; as Dante inched closer, he make out a human figure inside, struggling to break free.

"This'll teach you to escape!" The henchmen were yelling and in his hand, he was holding a rather long crowbar, which he began to wail blows down on her head and body. The screaming grew louder, although it was now becoming more and more feral, almost like snarling.

"Hey!" Dante yelled. If it was one thing he couldn't stand, it was to see a woman get _hit_.

The captors didn't even seem to notice Dante's presence until he had shouted, and the two men finally looked up.

"The hell? What do you think you're doing?" One of them barked, while the companion merely stared on with widened eyes as though surprised by Dante's presence. There was something about the shady duo which did not bode well to the devil hunter.

"I should be asking the same thing to you guys. That's no way to treat a lady." Dante replied, jabbing a finger at the girl in the water. She was fighting against the thick bonds vigorously; the net appeared to be made out thick rope twisted together to form a giant, unbreakable mesh.

The man who had been ogling at Dante quipped back, "That's no lady, that's a-_Oof!_" He was promptly silenced by his partner with a well-timed elbow in the gut. "What was that for?"

"Shut up! That's the Devil Hunter!"

"Devil Hunter?" He gasped, and as Dante swung Rebellion at the net, the two men yelped as the thick knot snapped and the remainder of the net immediately dropped into the water. The girl abruptly took this opportunity to attempt to free herself.

The men were howling at the loss. "No! We mustn't lose her! Kill the devil hunter!" In seconds, the men were convulsing, before their skin burst apart revealing a hideous, brownish-green, scaly exterior. With a fierce growl, the creatures lunged at him, with their exposed fangs and talons, but were quickly blown back each with multiple bullets to the chest. They were only lesser, weak demons, after all. The platform beneath them shook as their bodies landed on the ground, lifeless.

And then the pier sunk into silence.

Dante retreated his weapons and promptly made his way to the girl who was now floating motionless in the water, still trapped within the net. "Shit," he cursed under his breath, as he lifted the net up (with the girl stuck inside), and he began to rip apart the thick meshing. As soon as he freed the girl, he threw a quick glance at his hands to see his palms covered in blood. Averting his attention to the girl, he nudged her gently, "Hey. Wake up."

Her eyes were closed; she was lying on her stomach, her long, snowy-white wet hair plastered over her back and shoulders. The girl's skin was also eerily white, almost sickly pale. She could have been mistaken for a sculpture, a porcelain china doll, if he didn't see the steady rise of each inhale and exhale. The girl looked positively malnourished; her skin had a slight bluish-grey tint to it, as though it was bruised, and her frame was quite skeletal, too. Dante lifted her and briefly turned her round to her front.

She was naked.

He stared. He stared for a rather long time, his ice-blue eyes searching her body. He couldn't help himself; he was biologically male, engineered to respond to the opposite sex in a manner such as this. Her chest was womanly…of course it was…with shapely breasts and tight, puckered nipples that were stiff from the cold. But that was not all. He noticed little feathery slits where her ribs should be, and upon closer inspection, he realised they were _gills_.

"What the hell…?" He pulled away more of the net to see the rest of her body, the rest of her legs…He was not startled to see that she didn't have any. Although this was a first, he was not surprised by the sight of the limp fish tail. The tail was quite pale in colour; it was a blend of ivory and orangey-grey and it was dull; he could see little veins underneath the glossy little scales where her hips should be. As he contemplated the possibilities of all the strange and hellish creatures he'd encountered in his life as a devil hunter, he prodded at the side of her tail with his finger.

His fingertip sunk into the wet, slippery flesh; he could feel her tiny scales shifting under the pressure, and he pulled his finger back, which was now drenched in a fresh coat of slime. "Hm." He murmured under his breath.

Suddenly, he heard her groan. The blood wound on her side and head probably should have been his first area of concern, really. "Hang on, babe." Dante said, as he began to rip a small strip of his black shirt off. When she gave no response, he readied the strip and lifted his coat away from the wound to tie the strip around as tightly as possible.

A little moan escaped the back of her throat then, and she finally opened her eyes, flicking her lime-colored orbs up to him. The first thing he noticed were that the color of her eyes were pale enough to blend into the white of her eyes. Then he saw the little dot in the middle of her pupils which were the iris.

"There," He said, as she subjected him to a discerning stare. "that should stop the bleeding for now."

And then the girl flung herself away from him and she was on her stomach, her desperate fingers trying to grasp at the edge of the pier. She was heaving loudly, gurgling and rasping as though one could not breathe, but he didn't know what was going on and the girl was thrashing and he had to hop back to avoid the floor-sweep of her tail. As the girl flopped around, her tail flailing, her movements were streamlined and serpentine, like a snake coiling and uncoiling. Dante watched, as gradually, the tail began to split in half. The tail was slowly being ripped apart from within, being pushed outwards, as though there was something underneath the scaly exterior which was struggling to get out. The process – of whatever she was actually doing – looked extremely painful, judging by the way how she was gasping and wheezing, and when she finally stopped moving, the tail went limp.

She was panting again, and when she shifted slightly, he could see that two slime-coated, sinewy human legs were emerging from the ripped tail. In fact, every section of her body from waist down was covered in a strange, fresh coat of lucid, transparent gunge. The girl sat up, pushing herself off the ground with the back of her elbows. She was completely nude before him, sitting in the remnants of what was left of her tail which reminded him of a shedded skin, before she swerved her eyes to her newly acquired legs.

A gasp escaped her lips, and her mouth moved. "…It's too late."

"What was that all about?" He gestured to her, and the tarnished tail from which her legs had emerged from. Maybe she was literally a fish out of water.

"Nothing."

And here they were, talking as though they were acquaintances even though this was the first time meeting. He crouched down beside her, and with a hand on his chin, he grinned. "You're a mermaid."

She didn't respond to that, but she hastily began to cover herself up with her hands. She was right. It was too late. He had seen everything.

And when he moved forwards, she shrunk backwards in fear. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I wasn't going to." He reassured her as he swung Rebellion into the holster behind his back. He moved to lie down on the pier beside her with a hand supporting the back of his head, before he lazily picked up his jacket and offered it to her, which she subjected to a long, hard stare before she draped the garment over herself despite her lack of reaction.

"Do you sit on rocks, comb your hair with forks, wear seashell bras, sing to sailors and wreck ships, stuff like that?" He said. When she flashed him a cold look, he held his hand up and his grin widened. "Just kidding."

"There are many names for my kind, but _mermaid_..." She left her sentence to trail off; as she spoke the word 'mermaid', she had spoken it with clear disgust and disdain in her tone, "'Mermaid'," She continued to snicker, "is such a horrible word for my kind." Now she was putting on the jacket which he'd hung over her shoulders, although she didn't really know how. At first she lopped it over her head but that didn't seem right, so she tried again.

"Huh, interesting."

Instead of responding to that, she replied, "What is your wish?"

"Wish?"

"For saving my life, I grant you a wish. Just one. Tell me your wish, and I shall see to it. What is it you desire? Eternal youth? Fortune? Fame? All the women in the world?" asked the tail-less mermaid...being..._thing_, her lime-green eyes were glowing with a distinct, somewhat mischievous gleam in the darkness.

A moment passed, before he chuckled, "Hmm...all of it sounds promising...but-" he took a fraction of a second to pause; even though he had not intended to take up on her offer regardless if the wish-giving thing was true or not, he thought he'd continue to ask anyway, "-what's the catch?"

"There is no 'catch'."

He gave her a dry smile. "Sorry. Think I'll pass."

Her look dissolved into one of acute surprise, and as he observed her, maybe there was a hint of disappointment, too. He realised her snowy-white hair was also slowly turning into a dark chestnut brown. Even her skin was recovering more color than before, and her eyes gradually darkened to a stronger, emerald hue. She looked more human now.

Now that he thought about it, was this the real reason Caleb's Master wanted the mermaid so badly? "A lot of people are after you, aren't they?"

She nodded.

"So...You're the rare exotic fish everyone's talking about. A wish-granting fish. Can't say I've come across many." Dante muttered, before he stood back up to dust himself down, then he casually manoeuvred himself so he could scoop her into his arms; he effortlessly lifted her out and off the wrecked tail and into his arms. "Well, I've got a job to do, and that's to get you outta here. You clearly don't belong here, that's for sure."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I haven't been back to this story for almost a year. Sorry :( I hope you enjoyed this chapter though. Hopefully you know a bit more about Mia and what she really is.

- Jeralee


	6. And What Happened Next

Hello, thanks for the review/alerts. There is a lemon scene in this chapter. It might be OOC of Dante but the story needs to get a move on. Please enjoy.

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

**Chapter 5 ctd...**

Getting the tail-less mermaid out of the warehouse was obviously not as easy. She demonstrated no ability to walk. She also seemed fragile and weak (and unquestionably unable to defend herself) and finally, hordes of demons who had abandoned their human disguise came throwing themselves at them from all possible directions in a bid to stop Dante from making off with their highly sought-after merchandise.

As soon as Dante struck down the last demon in his way, he returned to spot where he had hid her and picked her up again; hiding her hadn't been his first option, but previous demon attacks had him performing all sorts of strange acrobats, ranging from throwing and tossing her around in the air and over his shoulder all in an effort to avoid attacks while he fought and she didn't exactly appreciate it. Her hiss of disapproval clearly told him so. Therefore he resorted to concealing her in some spots until the threat was over.

Finally, he'd made it out of the warehouse with the tail-less mermaid in tow and he found himself face to face with a gargantuan demon that towered over them–it was a toad-like demon with six long, spider-like limbs affixed with blades at the tips, although the toad itself reminded him an awful lot like the ugly, wretched and foul-smelling creatures that spawned two seductive 'feelers'...hm, what were their names again? Ah, yes, Bael and Dagon.

"_Demon hunter_!" snarled the ugly, huge spider-like demon as it slammed its six legs on the ground, making the earth tremble and shake beneath them. As it spoke a viscous green gunge came spewing forth from its mouth, dribbling over its tongue and fangs, making the tail-less mermaid shudder in disgust. "_You shall pay for your insolence tonight_!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I was wondering who the final boss of this level was." Dante said smoothly, as he moved to put the girl down, freeing his hands in favour for reaching for Rebellion. "Can't say you look like much of a challenge."

With a mighty roar the spider-demon lunged at him, and the tail-less mermaid watched Dante go head to head with the demon from her safe sidelines. He'd given her his trenchcoat so he was only clad in his black shirt and slacks. He clearly liked the color red, she thought, as she watched him tackle the demon. It sent one limb slamming into the ground but he dodged expertly and retaliated with a quick swipe. One of its spidery-legs came flying off, severed off at a joint. The demon was screeching but otherwise seemed unaffected by the loss as it had five more legs to support itself.

Dante landed shortly on the ground in front of her, and the demon's throat suddenly swelled up like a balloon, and then with a loud gurgle, it spat out a large ball of mucus at his direction that came sailing towards him at 160mph. Dante swiped down with Rebellion again and the mucus globe split in half. Nevertheless, flecks of toad-demon gunk splattered over him.

He inspected himself quickly, "And this is my best shirt, too."

The tail-less mermaid watched on as the fight continued. However, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and hoisted into someone's grip. A demon. He began to scurry back towards the direction of the warehouse with her slung over his shoulder. Immediately, she wailed loudly, capturing Dante's attention.

Dante cursed under his breath as he watched the demon making its hurried escape–and the toad-spider demon lashed out at him with its long, spangly tongue, wrapping the thick sticky muscle around Rebellion in an attempt to pull Dante into his mouth. Dante had to pull backwards, at the same time, he threw a glance over his shoulder to see the mermaid who was being carried away by the demon, "Hold on!"

Deciding he'd had enough, he slashed at the sticky tongue, cutting it in half, and as the demon screamed, he saw this opportunity to finish the demon off. With a powerful strike, he slashed the demon in two. Its body jerked, before it became completely encased in ice, before finally shattering into a trillion pieces of glittery shards. It was a surprisingly beautiful finish to a disgusting creature. Oh well, at least he knew for the certain that the demon was dead and dusted.

"Nice knowing ya." He uttered, before he rushed towards the same direction he had saw the demon scurry off to. "Mermaid," He murmured under his breath, "Mermaid, you better be okay..."

And he came to a stop when he saw her lying on the ground, a few feet away from the demon that had been carrying off which was now lying on the ground too. It appeared to be injured, and the mermaid herself was clutching her head, which was bleeding profusely. _Whoa, what happened here?_ He thought to himself.

Upon his arrival, she looked up groggily to see him a distance away, with one of his guns aimed at her and she gasped.

His finger curled around the trigger and she squeezed her eyes shut; however, when nothing happened, she re-opened her eyes to see that he had actually shot the demon behind her, which had been stirring. She breathed out with relief, and immediately, he was at her side in seconds.

"I take my eyes off you for one second and you're half-dying." Dante checked her carefully-there didn't seem to be any wounds aside from the one on her head-but she flopped against him, her eyes struggling to open. "Babe? Don't scare me. Eyes on me. Come on, look at me. Focus."

She groaned agonizingly. He knew she was trying hard, and finally, after what felt like a long time, her eyes re-opened, and she gazed up at him weakly. Now it was his time to breathe a sigh of relief.

"You okay? What happened to your head?"

Instead, she said, "...You are hurt." Ever since he left the warehouse with her she hadn't said a peep until now. She was staring inquisitively at the wound on his arm which he didn't notice earlier on. It appeared to have been created when the toad stabbed at him with one of its blade-like legs. He thought he had dodged the attack. It didn't matter though, as it didn't even hurt him at all.

"What? This? It's nothing."

The corner of her lips lifted upwards into a small smile of relief in response and for a brief moment, he felt at ease, as though the world was not filled with demons and he didn't have to fight all the evil in the world.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The rest of the night had gone quietly so far.

Dante was relatively surprised to find that Caleb's car, and the man himself, was missing from the warehouse gates. Hmm, now that his ride was gone, what now? He threw his glance to the tail-less mermaid who he was still carrying and she looked up at him expectantly. They'd been abandoned.

Hitching a ride back home wasn't a problem though. Next time, he reminded himself, he'd tell Morrison to rent one. He kept the girl close to him as much as possible–not that that was any difficult since she seemed attached to him. The driver whom had let Dante into his truck had tried speaking to the mermaid but all she did was give him a brief stare before returning to huddle close beside Dante with her arm wrapped around his, resting her head on his shoulder. He didn't mind. She closed her eyes and then did not speak or move again until they arrived at the city.

Finally, when he returned to his shop, it was past midnight, and he had also thought Caleb might be there, waiting, but again, there was no sign of the man or his car. At least no demons had followed them.

After his shower, he'd left her in the guest room downstairs, and he was in his room upstairs. Dante was almost asleep when he heard the door open. It gave a low creak, and he heard someone enter and shut the door; someone tiptoed up to him, as though careful not to wake him up. The covers were lifted off him up ever so slightly-he slept naked-and he felt his dusty mattress sink in, and he knew that it was the mermaid. Fair enough, she had slipped herself into his bed with him, but when she began to climb on top of him, straddling him…

Immediately, in a turn of quick of events, he'd pulled her off him and her back connected with the mattress. She was under him in seconds, with his hands pinning down her wrists.

She was wriggling against him as he kept her bound underneath him, growling. "You're still awake."

"And_ you_ can walk." He replied. Throwing a quick glance down at her he saw that she wasn't wearing the nightclothes he had provided her with. She was completely bare before him. It couldn't really be helped when a spark of excitement surged through him. He just blamed it on the fact that he was male. "A guy might get the wrong idea when a cute, naked girl sneaks into his bed like this."

"I'm not used to wearing 'clothes'." She said, before she glanced at him. "You're not wearing anything either."

"There's nothing wrong with sleeping nude."

She wriggled uncomfortably as she lay under him, "Can you let go? You're hurting me." Per her request, he let go of her and she rubbed at her wrists, "And my eyes are up here, by the way."

He looked away from her chest then, before she reached up and her lips connected with the side of his face. "Whoa, babe. Calm down." He began, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and reaching up, she trailed passionate kisses all over his cheek and jawline. Chuckling, he moved his head back but she followed his motion, and he had to push her away from him at arms-length. "You came here to have some fun with me, is that right?"

She was slightly breathless. "Maybe. Would you object?"

He responded with a grin. "Nah, I love it when a chick makes the first move." Truthfully, it didn't really matter to him whether a girl made the first move or not, but if she tried to kill him or make any wrong move, then he could, and he would, kill her in a blink with no hesitation.

As if reading his mind, she said, "Put that gun away before you hurt yourself."

Dante raised an eyebrow, then replaced Ebony back under the mattress in the slot where he kept it, just in case. "It's unprofessional for me to become acquaintances with the merchandise by the way."

"It'll be our secret."

After a few moments of nothing but complete stillness, he watched her steadily, but she was unwavering. He then climbed on top of her, hovering above her on all fours. "I like it rough, you know. Rough, raw and dirty. No strings attached."

She reached for him again and put her hand to his face, her delicate fingers tracing the outline of his jaw teasingly, "...Who doesn't?"

"You want me that bad, baby?"

She replied by bringing him forwards for a kiss. He put his hands on the sides of her face and thoroughly deepened the kiss, massaging her lips thoroughly. He kissed her with much ardour, wrapping his arms around her body that they were pressed against each other as tightly as possible. She tasted sweet, better than honey. Although the rest of her body was rather cold, her lips were hot yet soft, and their lips moulded well against each other.

When they pulled away for air, she stared at him, gasping and sweaty, before he crashed his lips over hers again. She was touching him and he let his hands roam over her body, over her breasts and her stomach, before finally resting them in between her legs which he found to be very wet. The rest of her body was very lithe, very shapely. He'd had a few partners in his life and their bodies came in all sorts of shapes and sizes but hers was the most feminine, with curves in all the right places and supple, long legs.

"You want me." She breathed when they pulled away once more. Her hand had found his length and she rubbed, forcing a growl from the back of his throat. "And I want you to take me."

A smirk came to his lips. This was harmless. Just sex. Nothing more, nothing less. Sex with a mermaid. This was definitely a first. How many times had he come across one? None. Surely this could be some kind of record. When was the last time he'd had fun anyway? It felt like a long time ago. He moved his hands to her legs, spreading them apart before he shifted himself into position. She was panting in anticipation, her eyes glinting with that same mischievous gleam he'd seen in her eyes back in the warehouse. Maybe she felt the same way too.

Dante lifted her legs up with his arms and as she stroked the sturdy outline of his biceps, he settled them to rest over his waist; he could see her chest rising up and down erratically with each quick breath she took as she waited for him. Her eyes closed, her dark eyelashes fluttering, and when he slid inside her, she moaned at the powerful intrusion. He groaned as he slipped into hot velvet before he began to thrust into her; supporting himself using his arms, he threw his head back and began grunting loudly as he picked up the pace, working himself inside her-the headboard was banging against the wall and the bedsprings were creaking-and she was moaning with pleasure.

Reaching down the side of his bed, he picked up a half-full bottle of Jack Daniels and downed a few gulps. The fingernails scraping all over his shoulders and down his back brought him to reality. He took that as a sign that she wanted more, and he grinded in harder with his strong body, almost shoving her to become one with the bed. Her legs wrapped around his waist, locking him, and he slid in deeper than before. She threw her head back and screamed at the sensation, clawing at his back relentlessly as she took his powerful thrusts with no protest….

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

**Present.**

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

"Alright, you can stop there." Mia said; her face was a deep, deep red hue. "I get it."

Dante merely responded with a smirk. "I was just getting to the good part."

"No, it's okay. I get it." She coughed into her fist, obviously embarrassed. "…So we really did…uh, you know."

"Oh yeah. You are one horny babe." He said, and when she stiffened at his words, his smirk widened even more, "I even got the scars to prove it." He added, but that was a little white lie. He always healed fast. Scratches like those from her fingernails wouldn't do squat on his flesh. He just thought he'd say it to wind her up and so far, her spook-eyed, deer-caught-in-headlights reaction made it worth it.

"I-I can't believe it...I d-didn't think I'd-" She was stammering and stuttering over her words; in order to get a word in edgeways, she stopped in her efforts altogether, cleared her throat loudly, took a deep breath, and finally, in a calmed tone, she said, "Then I woke up the next morning and I forgot everything."

"Must've been that blow to your head. During the night, it must've eaten away at your memory."

"But you didn't tell me how you knew that I was stolen."

"You were the one who told me." He replied, "You told me that you were stolen from your owner after we had-"

"I GET IT."

"-and you told me they had killed your owner and took you to that warehouse where they kept you until you tried to escape. You never did tell me how the whole 'wish' thing works though."

Following that was a very long silence. She didn't really know the answer to that either. Mia slumped in her spot and held her head in her hands. "I can't believe it. I really am a..." She could not seem to bring herself to finish that sentence.

"It's not that bad. I'm half-demon myself."

Another silence followed until she croaked out, "Uh…a-are…are we…lovers?"

Dante took one long hard look at her. "Babe, we got down and dirty. I'm pretty sure that tells you what stage we're at."

She winced inwardly. It was not that she was considered Dante unattractive, nor did she find his personality and spunk deterring, and even though she couldn't remember their one-off intimate moment, she did feel _somewhat_ attached to him. "I'm changing back." She mumbled, "I can feel it. Dante, I have a bad feeling about that man called Caleb…please, don't take me to him. What does he want with me?"

He shook his head. "Sorry babe, I gotta find out what he wants, but I will keep you safe." He replied, as he returned to his desk and pulled out his drawer. He reached in and grabbed out a black steel box which had the key stuck inside the lock. With a quick twist, he opened it and took out a few wads of cash which was stuck together in an elastic band, "This should be enough. After we take a shower together, we're going."

"Very well-wait, what?"

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	7. Salmon Eating in the Station

Dear readers, thanks for the alerts and the favs. You might get the idea by now that this fic was mostly inspired from mermaid media such as Mermaid Saga and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (lol yes really) and a horror movie called She Creature, even though the story is called 'Siren' and Mia is technically a mermaid although she doesn't like being called one but a lot of things have happened since I wrote chapter 1 so things are always up for a change. Please likey this chapter :)

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**SIREN**

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"Maria? I have something to show you. It's a surprise." He led her eagerly down the stairs of their basement, holding onto her hand as he led her down.

"What is it?" She asked. She was blindfolded.

"We're almost there."

He made her walk further into the basement, before turning round. "Now. Take off your blindfold." He said; she did as she was told, and as she saw it, she stared in shock. There was a large tank filled with gloomy seawater standing in front of her. She didn't quite understand. "Go on and have a look." He said, grinning widely as he gestured for her to walk closer to the tank.

With his permission, she walked up to it and placed her palm flat against the glass. She peered in and squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look. There was something inside, a murky, blurry outline. She stepped back with another gasp as she heard a loud splash and a large orangey-grey fish tail protruded out and slapped hard against the surface of the deep, gloomy water.

"What kind of fish is that?" She exclaimed. "You've never caught anything that _**big** _before."

"Look closer."

She nodded, and then, she saw it. She saw a human face through the darkness. She saw long, white hair, and a pair of lime-green eyes. Its flesh was eerily white too, contrasting heavily with its tail. Its tail was…_magnificent_. It resembled a goldfish tail, thin, speckled and streamlined, like a veil. It was swimming around in circles before finally swimming up to the surface of the water. A pair of long and scaly arms reached up for the mouth of the tank and the creature lifted itself up.

Maria gasped in horror, her mouth falling open. "It's…It's a…a…a mermaid." She squeaked, before she clasped her hands over her open mouth before exclaiming louder, "_A_ _mermaid_!" She turned to him questioningly. "_But how_?"

He walked up to her and put an arm around her shoulder before facing the tank, smiling triumphantly up at the creature in the water, "I found her washed ashore this morning. She's quite a catch, isn't she?"

However, Maria let out a weak laugh and shrugged out of his hold. "Why have you chained her?" She asked, gesturing to the shackles around the wrists of the creatures.

"She tried to climb out."

"...Why is she looking at me like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's hungry. I haven't fed her yet."

"Very funny. This is too much. This is a joke gone too far."

"You don't believe me?"

She gave him a look of disbelief. "The tail looks real. Who is she? Friend of yours? It looks convincing, but next time you should really tell me about new female friends you make–" She stopped when a wave of water suddenly hit her and she shrieked, throwing her arms over her head protectively. "Eeek! She splashed me!"

"She heard you." He said, chuckling as he watched the creature in the tank slip under the water and swim away from the pair to the far end of the tank. "You hurt her feelings."

Maria was wiping away excess water from her eyes angrily, "Quit it! Stop fooling around! Tell that friend of yours to get out of there and go home!"

But he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her in order to convince her, "I'm not fooling around, Maria! She lives in the ocean! She's the real thing; I'm telling you, she's real! They're real! Look! There's your proof!" He yelled, letting go of her to point at the tank. "That girl–She's a _MERMAID_! They DO exist!"

She scoffed at him, brushing him off. "Don't be a fool. Even if she **is** real, what do we do with her? We can't keep her here."

"Yes, we can! I want to! I want to look after her and–"

"You're a madman! Wherever you found her, put her back right now! You'll get us into trouble, you fool!"

"And why should I?" He sneered.

"How can you possibly keep her? We don't even know what she is! What does she eat? We can't! We just can't!"

The more he listened, the angrier he became, "No! You're the crazy one here! Get out! I showed her to you because I thought you would understand me…I guess I was wrong…Get out! Get out! I don't want to see you again! GET OUT!"

She frowned at him, then turned away. "Fine." She spun on her heel to storm up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind her.

When she was gone, he was breathing heavily. However, when he turned to the tank, he saw that she had returned to climb up to the rim of the tank, staring at him wordlessly with those sinister green eyes of hers. They were such a faded shade of green, they blended into the white of her eyes; if he didn't see the little black dot in the middle of her orbs, he'd thought she was completely pupil-less.

"I knew it…" He breathed as he met her unwavering gaze, "I knew you were real all along…"

She made a noise and flung herself away, creating another large splash in the water as she dove underneath. He watched her swim around the perimeter of the tank before she stopped behind the glass in front of him. She looked so elegant…so surreal, so beautiful…so very ethereal, so extraordinary…

He walked up to her and placed his hand on the glass; she did the same too, except her hand was webbed, with a thin, translucent membrane between the gaps of her fingers. "Shh, shhh…shh…it's alright…she's gone now…that mean scary woman is gone…it's just you and me now…" He crooned, smiling at her, "…You're all I need…You're all I need in this worl–"

He was briefly interrupted when he felt something wet and slimy slap him on the side of the head only to look up and see a portion of her tail retreating away from him.

"O-oh…" He stuttered out, as he calmed himself. He watched the tail slip back into the tank and under the water in a blink of the eye, and he gulped before letting out an uncomfortable chuckle, "T-t-that was you…um, c-can you speak, by the way? Do you understand me?" He asked, but there was no response, except from a long, unblinking stare. "No, of course you can't…Of course. Very well, perhaps if I have the time, I can teach you a few things...I can teach you how to speak English...are you hungry?"

He reached to the side and lifted up a bucket of fresh, raw fish which he had caught today. "I saved these for you from today's catch."

She swerved her gaze from him, to the bucket in hand, then back to him. Before long, she swam to the surface of the water again, and he could see the entire length of her tail. It started near her waist, maybe above hip line; her scaly flesh dissolved into the tail as both were almost the same in colour. Where her hipbones should be, where two scaly fins that had long, pointed tips, like the whiskers of a catfish. Even the back of her tail was outlined with sharp spikes.

With one fish in hand, he tossed it over and it landed into the water, floating on the surface. In one massive swoop, she had snatched it quickly from the surface and disappeared under the water with her back to him. Blood pooled around her as she chewed on the fish greedily. Once she was done, she returned to the surface for more. Waiting. He threw another fish and another and she took them and devoured them whole. She caught the fish the same way as usual. He tossed another fish, but this time, she left it alone. She probably had enough.

When he was finished, he settled the bucket on the ground. "I hope you like your new home." He said, as he stepped away from the tank. "You are going to be here for a long time."

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Present day.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Hey, fish-babe, heads up."

She glanced up to see Dante tossing a slippery and slick dark-grey, flimsy thing towards her direction. Her reaction was to hold out her arms and a slippery fish landed in her grip. She frowned, fed up with his never-ending list of nicknames for her. "And what is the meaning of this?" She asked, as Dante sauntered to the car with the keys in hand.

"You're still hungry, right?" He said, as he pushed his guitar case into the back seat before he manoeuvred to slide into the driver's seat. He indicated to her to get inside the car by nudging his head towards the empty passenger seat beside him. "Get in."

The fish he'd given her was a salmon. It was dead, with its great glossy eyes and its jaw agape, exposing tiny little teeth. She wasn't even going to bother to question him where he might've gotten a fresh fish from. Clutching the dead fish with two hands, Mia entered the car and sat down, before slamming the door shut beside her. Dante watched her for a short moment, but when she gave him a blank stare in return, he reached towards her and pulled the seatbelt over her, and plugged it into the clip. "There ya go."

Mia raised an eyebrow at the seatbelt. "What's this for?"

"So you don't smash through the windscreen and land on the tarmac and split your head open if anything happens." He replied, as he pulled out a pack of air fresheners from the glove compartment. "No offense, by the way. I just like this car very much."

"None taken."

When he was finished hanging up the air fresheners, he jammed the keys into the slot and twisted. The engine stalled at first, and he growled and with an impatient "_Aw, come on_", the engine finally roared on and the headlights flashed. He switched them off, before shifting the gear stick to its respective gear and pushing the handbrake down. The car began to move out of the garage and onto the road.

Mia had never been in a car before. Needless to say, this was rather exciting for her. As the scenery rolled by, she giddily stared outside the window, chomping on the fish. Meanwhile, Dante fiddled with the radio despite the mere half hour drive to the train station. Adjusting the radio with the rounded dial, he flicked through classical music, bumbling pop music, exotic salsa music-he turned to her and asked if she liked that-to which she replied with a firm 'no'-before he discovered a channel belting out thrashing, hardcore, eardrum thumping music.

"Hell, yeah!" He exclaimed, grinning at her. But all she did was watch him while eating her fish. "...You know, that's kinda cute in a creepy kind of way." He remarked loudly over the intense volume of the radio. It seemed he'd switched it to Rock FM and the pulse-pounding, brain-bashing metal music began to echo in the background and travelled out of the car itself. His rolled-down window also gathered some unappreciative persons as they stopped at a red car light. The driver in the car beside them threw Dante a dirty, sour look. Dante had merely replied with a grin.

He must be referring to the way how she was eating the fish, she thought, as she chewed absent-mindedly on the salmon's stringy, raw flesh. She was eating it head-first, gnawing on the skull quietly, before she swallowed. Even the tail disappeared down her gullet, too. "Do you have any more?"

"Nope, just that one. Your throat can handle all that?"

She nodded.

"Finally, I found a use for that salmon. It's been in my freezer for days."

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No, of course not." He reached over and using his palm, he ruffled her hair. Then he repeated, "Course not, babe..."

She looked at him tiredly but said nothing. Once they arrived at the train station, Dante parked at an empty spot and climbed out. He grabbed his guitar case, slung it over his shoulder, and was joined by Mia. It was lucky he'd gotten Lady to come by with some clothes, and it was lucky she'd finished the fish. "Do you think I will fit in?" She asked worriedly, and he nodded.

"You look human enough to me." Dante replied, "Can you walk?"

"Yes. I'm okay now."

At first, they made their way towards the train station side by the side in silence. The train station was bustling with travellers today. He threw a sideways glance to see that she wasn't exactly keeping up in pace with him. She was lagging behind, stopping to gaze at a newspaper stand or a coffee shop or families with their screaming children getting ready for the beach. Perhaps she wasn't okay as she mentioned after all. He didn't want her lagging behind or getting caught up or distracted by the busy passerby's. Dante hurriedly thrust his hand out to her and she stared at his invitation curiously.

"Hold my hand."

Damn, he cursed mentally; those words sounded a lot smoother in his head than coming out of his mouth. She reached for him regardless and when her small, but cold fingers slid into his awaiting palm, he instinctively curled his fingers around her tightly and managed to guide her that she was finally matching his pace. He grinned at her again, and she responded with a small smile.

"Alotta people are looking at you." He murmured under his breath.

She blinked at him wide-eyed. Had she been oblivious to the abundance of looks aimed at her direction? In particular, those looks were mostly from _men_. "Huh? Why?"

"Cos' you're pretty." He replied, and her cheeks went a little pink. "Heh, you're blushing. I thought you'd be used to that kind of compliment."

"Um...I-I don't remember anyone saying that to me before..."

"You don't have to be so modest, babe. It's true." Dante added, before he winked at her teasingly. He thought that mermaids were meant to be pretty. Now that he thought about it more, the additional attention Mia was receiving was beginning to turn against them as he watched the crowd before them warily. _We're attracting too much attention. This could be trouble. _He briefly remembered Patty's baker boy cap which, if he recalled correctly, should be inside his guitar case with Rebellion. The blasted girl slipped it inside when he wasn't looking (or when he was asleep or showering) and he hadn't been bothered to take it back out since.

At one of the schedule boards, he unzipped the case a fraction, delved an arm in and found the hat, which he plopped over her head. Then he checked their tickets and found their train which was waiting at Platform 4 and would be leaving in fifteen minutes. Thankfully he'd booked a table seat; he took two seats and Mia took the two seats opposite.

"Are you sure you want to go on with this?" She asked wearily.

He nodded. "I'll keep you safe, I promise." _I need to find out what that Laurent wants anyway since he won't talk...Getting up close and personal is always the best when it comes to settling matters._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Dante?"

A few hours had passed. She didn't realise Dante lived so far away from that place called 'Capulet City', where the man who had hired Dante to retrieve her resided.

"Dante." She hissed, but there was no response from the devil hunter. He had kicked his legs up on the table, lying with his arms resting behind his head. A newspaper was strategically placed over his face as though it acted as an effective barrier against pesky trolley attendants who arrived at the aisles occasionally, asking passengers if they want a drink or biscuit or whatever else they had for sale. "Dante."

She got up from her seat and shook him, but nothing happened yet the snoring did get a little louder. "Dante, I'm...I'm hungry." She whimpered, silently wishing that he'd given her another fish back in the car, "Help me."

There was no response. Glancing around the train carriage, she saw unassuming businessmen and other individuals in their own seats, quietly keeping to themselves. Her wandering eyes landed on a particular young and attractive, but bulky man. Underneath his tight shirt, she could see the bulging muscles and his honed built. He looked yummy. Literally. He met her gaze when he realised she was staring at him from across the carriage, and she stiffened but she did not and could not look away.

A few moments passed and her eyes narrowed. Then she smiled and hopped out of their table seat and into the aisle. She headed towards the toilets which she found, to her advantage, were vacant. The man had been reading a magazine but he folded it back up, and got up in his seat. She threw her glance over her shoulder. He had followed her.

"Sam?" His female companion who was sitting beside him spoke up, "Sam, where are you going? Sammy?"

"...I'll be back soon..." He mumbled, as though he was in a trance.

"...Oh, okay." She settled back into her seat quietly.

In the toilets, Mia slipped inside and kept the door open for her human prey to enter. His eyes were glazed and he was slack-jawed with his mouth open, since she'd managed to hypnotise him once they locked eyes. "Shut the door quietly." She commanded, and the prey did as he was told.

Licking her lips, Mia didn't really know where to start. It could be anywhere, really. Humans were too big prey that it was akin to a crocodile eating a deer. It might take hours to devour him whole. Hm, but where to start? The neck. She always liked necks. Yes, that would do. She grabbed the human man and pulled him forwards, although when she did that, Dante's face briefly flashed in her mind. She paused, stunned for a moment that she'd thought about him when she was about to feed...or was it because she was holding this man...this stranger...so closely to her, so intimately, when she had held Dante the same way before?

She brushed the thought away. _Hungry right now. Eat now, think later. _Her dinner was waiting. In the tiny cramped space, if only she could see that the tiny mirror reflected a pretty face until she opened her mouth-and her jaw stretched open to an unimaginable size-her mouth was big enough to fit his head-and a row of fangs elongated from her gums, ready to bite into the man until the door jerked and Mia gasped.

Letting go of the man, the door was pulled open with a force so brutal that it almost fell off its hinges, and Mia stared wide-eyed at the silver-haired devil hunter at the doorway. "D-Dante!"

"Are you cheating on me?" He was saying that, but this time it didn't sound like his usual jokes and even his tone had deepened to contain a serious inflection. "With this guy? Seriously?"

She shook her head furiously.

"Let go of him."

She nodded and threw her glance down. "I'm sorry. Dante, I wasn't going to-you have to believe me, I wasn't-"

But Dante reached into his jacket and when he pulled out one of his guns, Mia gasped again when he aimed the nozzle at her directly and-

"_Dante, no_!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Ah!"

Mia woke up with a start, then quickly glanced around the carriage. Oh. It was just a dream. A scarily realistic dream. Even though Dante said he didn't know if she was a demon, he seemed positive she wasn't 'evil'. Now she wasn't so sure herself. She looked opposite her to see Dante sleeping in the same position as he was in her dream, with his legs kicked up on the seat and a newspaper placed over his face.

Calming her erratically beating heart, she shifted up slightly in her spot and glanced over the seat's head, to look at the rest of the passengers in the carriage. Where the man she'd lured-that young bulky man in her dreams-was supposed to be sitting, was a girl with headphones clamped over her head as she peered inquisitively at her laptop's flashing screen. There was no bulky man anywhere. She sighed a breath of relief.

It was just a dream.

However, her stomach was gurgling lightly and she knew she was hungry, well, maybe just a little. She could manage, hopefully. But there was still the danger that the dream might happen. It might. Somehow. She decided to go to Dante instead and she got up in her seat, making her way across the table and into his seat. She reached over and put his legs down onto the floor one by one before she climbed into his lap.

"Dante." She shook him by the shoulders but when he did not wake up, she began to run her hands up and down his chest. Finally, he shifted and a hand grabbed at the newspaper, pulling it away from his face.

"Mmm, what are you doing?" He said, with a Cheshire cat-like grin as he swerved his eyes down to her roaming hands; he encircled his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him.

"Bad dream." She mumbled as he rubbed at her arm. "I had a bad dream."

His lips were by her ear as she sunk into his chest, and she closed her eyes to rest. Dante was so warm to touch, unlike herself-she was cold all the time-and she was snuggling deeper into his welcoming embrace. She felt him nipping at the shell of her ear playfully, before he reached over and kissed the top of her head. His hands moved to rest on the side of her hips, sliding up and down over her curves. When he threw his glance at her, he noticed the smile playing on her lips.

"Admit it. It's great being with me." He said.

"Dante?" She gave his shoulder a tight squeeze.

"Yeah, baby?"

"Thanks for looking after me." She replied, and he leaned in and kissed her forehead, earning a giggle from her. "...When we get to the manor, what's going to happen?"

"I dunno. We'll find out in twenty minutes."

"Huh?"

Soon, the train's tannoy had switched on and a mechanical female's voice was echoing through the carriage. "The next stop is Capulet Central Station. Please watch the gap whilst alighting from this train."

Dante stretched slightly but found that he was rather comfortable in his seat with Mia resting on him. "That's our stop." He found himself almost grudgingly saying, "Let's get moving."

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

When they finally arrived at the _de Chard Manor_, Dante drove through the wrought-iron gates and onto a bumpy, stony path. As their rented car bounced and hobbled with protest over the ravenous path, a fountain loomed into view and he steered around the circular stone ornament, before focusing on the single route straight ahead. Mia, in the passenger seat, stared at the statue in the middle of the fountain. it was a naked woman with plump breasts and a fish tail-a mermaid. Once they arrived at the front of the mansion, they were greeted with an incredible, massive Gothic building covered in overgrown, but trimmed shrubbery. It was at least three storeys tall, with balconies littering almost every possible window of the building. Dante pulled the car up beside one of the numerous rows of statues and glanced at his map of crudely-drawn directions before glancing up at the manor again.

"Hm, Italian Renaissance." Dante commented as he fixed his gaze on the architecture of the building, "Nice."

"Are we in the right place?" She asked nervously.

"Yep, we're in the right place." He replied, when Mia gave him a worried look. Dante slid out of the driver's seat, and Mia followed.

As Dante pulled out his guitar case from the boot of his rented car, the front door of the manor creaked open and a familiar man stepped out to greet them. He was adorned in a black dinner suit with a white shirt and matching gloves. His shoes were polished and clean. "Mr Dante, I'm so glad you made it." said the man dressed in the butler-attire.

"Yeah, and in one piece, too." The devil hunter grunted, slinging his giant case over his back.

"Yes, yes, indeed." Caleb said, before he threw his glance to Mia as she stood beside Dante anxiously. "And what have we here? This is...it?"

"Yep."

"It's got legs." Caleb added, subjecting Mia to a stony glare from head to toe. She nervously slid behind Dante, hoping his taller build and trenchcoat would hide her from the man's penetrating gaze.

"Yeah, and it's got a name too." Dante replied, "Mia."

"...Yes." came Caleb's stoic reply, "Shall we get going? Master Laurent is waiting for you two inside..."

**xxxxxxxxxxx**


	8. Laurent de Chard and the Mermaid

Hey, thank you for reviews/favs/alerts. I really do like writing this story (even if Dante is OOC here). This is a longer chapter to wrap some stuff up before I move onto another case that is to begin. ENJOY!

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**SIREN**

* * *

They'd arrived in Capulet City in the evening and when Caleb led them inside; he told them to wait for Laurent to meet them only to be waiting for the man for almost two hours.

"This is stupid." Mia grumbled as she checked the face of the loudly ticking grandfather clock standing proudly in the corner, "We arrived here at five and now it's almost seven."

"Relax..." Dante was lounging on the large velvet sofa that was facing the fireplace directly, before he picked and prodded at a bunch of rosy red grapes in a small wicker basket on the table beside him. He popped a grape into his mouth and chewed. "...Why are you always so edgy?"

Mia watched, then sighed. At least someone was enjoying this...

Two hours ago when Caleb ushered them into the mansion, he showed them to the guest lounge-and like the mansion itself, the lounge was massive, uniquely decorated and filled to the brim with exquisite statues and expensive ornaments like the tiger skin rug on the floor and the rhino and moose heads affixed to the wall on a mount-and Caleb gestured to one of the many couches in the room and Dante sat himself down with a quick sweep of the tails of his coat despite Caleb's twitching manner as the devil hunter stretched back and settled his dirty, muddy boots atop the accompanying glass coffee table.

"May I take your coat for you, Mr Dante?" Caleb had politely asked.

"No thanks, Jeeves, the coat and I are one. Wherever I go, it goes too." Dante had replied, much to Caleb's chagrin.

Mia had sat down too, but then she got up to stand, staring at a life-sized portrait on the wall of a young man on a horse holding a sleek sword in the air in some gallant sort-of way. Maybe that young man was Laurent.

Caleb then disappeared into one of the many doors to find his Master after leaving behind a pristine teapot of steaming Darjeeling tea and the fruitbasket with the grapes and other various fruits. Two hours later and nothing happened except the tea got cold and Caleb returned to provide them with more canapés to which Dante eagerly helped himself to endlessly only to tire of the chicken liver pate on miniature crackers after a while. They did not see a single soul in sight except from Caleb, who was apparently the only worker here.

"Mi, what is it? Siddown...just look at this fancy place. Bet you wish you lived here, huh?" Dante said. After he finished the grapes he went to pick up one of the choux eclairs from the porcelain plate which he hadn't touched since Caleb lay them on the table, up for offering. He inspected it briefly before he promptly dropped it into his mouth.

She gasped. "Don't! That's been lying out for a long time."

"I can handle it." He replied, grinning wickedly as he chewed on the hardened, tough dough, "C'mon, try one. Mmm, it's a bit doughy but it's got cream and strawberry jam inside. Sweet."

"No thanks." Mia sidestepped around the table and sat down beside him. He slung his arm around her shoulder and the other snaked around her waist, holding her close to him.

"It's nice and clean and rich around here, isn't it?" He murmured in her ear, before he leaned over to lift up one of the lamps off the side table. The lampshade had curtain-like tassels dangling off it, decorated with lavish beads and knots. With one eyebrow raised, he asked, "Do you like it?"

Mia looked around tentatively. Compared to Dante's shop, this mansion was indeed Paradise. "He's rich, but...there's something fake about it all. It's like it's all a facade." She muttered, "...Your shop's more...I don't know, it's more genuine. It reflects you as a person."

"So you're saying you like my shop better, right?"

"I guess." She gave a gentle shrug.

"That's my girl." He pulled her into his lap, facing him, and reached up to kiss her on the nose warmly. She giggled and with her hands on his chest, she pushed him backwards into the sofa.

"We're in a public place." She uttered, trying to inch herself out of his embrace.

"Yeah, but no-one's watching." Dante purred; he reached over and began nuzzling her neck tenderly, his lips grazing over the skin of her nape. He kissed her deeply, his teeth grating against her flesh. She closed her eyes and leaned back in his grip whilst she began to run her hands through his hair and over his face, as though enjoying his affections.

"Dante?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Your hair is white." She was beginning to delve her fingers under his shirt. "Your chest hair is white, too." She leaned over to weave her other hand through his unruly mop, as he clutched her to him. "But you're not old at all."

"Is my unusual colored chest hair turning you on?" He said with a seedy grin, and she smacked him playfully. "You've got white hair as well, ya know. We're the same, you and I."

She laughed and hugged him tightly. The room started to feel warm, or maybe it was just him. And when she started grinding on him, he stiffened, his hands freezing on the sides of her hips before he moved away from her neck and kissed her on the lips ravenously. She squeezed him, holding him close to her. Dante pulled back, his grin widening. "I never did get round two, you know."

She was playing with his hair again, wrapping a silver strand around her finger, "...That's too bad."

"It's not too late to go to the hotel..." He suggested, but she merely laughed and moved her hand from his hair, and as she toyed with his shirt, her fingertips ghosted over the single front golden buckle before it strayed lower and lower towards his groin.

Pressing her lips by his ear, she was murmuring, "...I'm sure you've had many women before me...what makes me any different?"

"You didn't seem bothered by that before."

"I'm just curious, that's all..."

He sighed gently. "I like you, Mia, and I cherish you." He replied, and then he added, "Can we start making out now?"

She pondered for a short while, then nodded. "Fair enough."

When he grinned, she smiled too and he slammed his lips over hers. Shoving a hand under her shirt, he began to caress and fondle her. She wasn't wearing a bra, although he already knew that when he ransacked Lady's duffel bag previously. He didn't find a bra before or any sort of underwear amongst the clothes provided. She was bare underneath the shirt and when she moaned into his mouth, he had the urge to take her if they hadn't been interrupted by the two figures who had entered the room.

Mia climbed off him immediately, leaving him somewhat breathless and sweaty and wanting more. It was Caleb, and beside him was a young man dressed in a maroon suit and black tie; the young man had strolled in quite languidly whilst beaming proudly at the duo.

"Good evening." greeted the young man while Caleb remained emotionless and blatantly looking bored as he stood beside his master. "If you are done manhandling each other on my precious velveteen Loriots lounger, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Laurent, and I am the Master of the House. And you must be Mr Dante, the Devil Hunter."

Dante ogled him for a few moments before he got up to stand, dusting down at the lapels of his coat and the front of his slacks. Mia stood up as well. "You bastard," Dante grunted, "you kept us waiting for two hours. I've booked a hotel for the night. We'll come back again in the morning."

"No, wait." Laurent said quickly, "My apologies. I got caught up in a business meeting. I assure you this won't take long. If it's not too much, I could offer a room to the lady to stay in while we discuss."

"No, that won't be necessary. Mia can stay here with us. It's all about her, after all."

"She looks tired."

"Nope, she always looks like that."

When he said that, Mia gave Dante a somewhat sour look. And Laurent replied with, "You're a rather inconsiderate man, Mr Dante."

"Stop talking crap." Dante snapped at him, "And let's talk business."

"Then let the poor girl retire for a moment. I have a room for her where she can rest until we have finished. We won't be chatting for long anyway, and you can return to her. I've used up a lot of your precious time."

Before Dante could reply, Mia tugged on his hand. "I'll be fine. I can watch myself." She said, "I'll go rest."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye and she gave him a reassuring nod. A short while later, he gave her a rather reluctant nod. "...Okay, fine. I'll be right here if you need me."

"Good." Laurent said cheerily, "Caleb, will you show Miss Mia to our lovely guest room?"

The butler said nothing except bow and stride out of the room after a curt 'Yes, Master'. Laurent gestured for Mia to follow the butler, which she did. Mia threw Dante a concerned glance over her shoulder but said nothing.

When Caleb and Mia were away, Laurent smiled at Dante and gestured to the couch; Dante took his seat as prompted and Laurent moved to sit down opposite him. The two men eyed each other for a long while. Laurent was too clean and somewhat jock-like for Dante's liking, with his boyish looks and young face. He was too young, too green-looking, too despicable. He reminded Dante of an acne-faced teen straight from high school, plucky, irritating and annoying...the kinds who thought that the world was their oyster.

"So," The little man named Laurent began, "Let's talk about your payment. I'll give you a five figure lump sum. That enough for you?"

Dollar signs almost appeared in his eyes; that would be enough to cover his 'Lady' expenses. "What do you know about mermaids, Laurent?" Dante said instead.

He shrugged as he pulled out a cheque book and began writing down the sum of money owed. "They're mythical creatures...unknown to man...they're rare, half-woman, half-fish creatures."

"Your butler Jeeves seems to know more about them than you do."

"Who, Caleb? Yeah, he's been ever-so-suspicious of her. He went crazy and looked up all these books in the library about mermaids and he won't stop telling me about them, how they are evil creatures and stuff." He handed him the cheque. Laurent's signature was a mass of mature, wavy lines.

"You don't believe him?" He pocketed the cheque.

Laurent shrugged.

"Okay, so how did you find the mermaid in the first place?"

"Fine, fine." said Laurent, holding up his hands before he inspected one of his fingernails. Absent-mindedly, he murmured, "I was on my seasonal boating trip, and I went to this really shady place; I was just looking around the marketplace and I was at this stall with all these kinds of fish for sale. I wasn't interested but he tries to keep me; he tells me he has something that I might like, so I went with him and saw that he had, well...the mermaid, for sale. I wanted to get her sent to home but these bastards hijacked the ship and took her away. That's why I hired you."

"That's a load of bull. Stop lying, it's embarrassing. She was stuck in a warehouse. You didn't buy her. She had an owner who was killed by the black-market traders so they could sell her for a fortune."

Laurent's face went slightly beet-red. Since he'd been caught in a fat lie, he amended his statement and said, "Fine. But I wasn't lying about buying her by the way. What's wrong with a guy going to a black-market, going to their auction, seeing an actual mermaid for sale and wanting to buy it only for those assholes to double cross me and sell it to someone else who snuck in after the auction and bribed them?"

"You want a mermaid really badly, don't you? You didn't tell me she was a mermaid that grants wishes though."

Then Laurent's face fell to a certain extent. "...I didn't think there were different types of mermaids out there. I thought there were just...mermaids."

Dante ogled at the portrait above them, the portrait of (presumably) Laurent's parents who were dressed in Victorian clothing, seemed a little bizarre. "But you knew about the whole wish thing."

"No."

"Hmm, how come I don't believe you?"

Laurent was getting tired of his sarcasm. "Okay, fine, I snuck in before the auction to see her for myself. She offered me a wish...but I thought she was going to trick me and probably do something to me because...well, it doesn't really matter to me...hell, I already have fortune...I have fame, I've got a girl...uh, _girls_...there's nothing much more that I want."

"That's not true." replied Dante, "There's always..._something_, isn't there?"

"...Did she offer **you** a wish?" Laurent asked him in return.

"Yep."

"You didn't take it?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"'Cos I'm just like you."

With that said, Laurent threw Dante a cold look from head to toe. "Really." His tone was flat, deadpan. Unamused. "Hmph. Don't you dare compare yourself to me."

"And this is why there's such a big difference between the rich and poor." Dante mused, shrugging his wide shoulders with a smirk. Baiting this guy was rather easy. "I just don't get you rich peeps."

"Of course you won't, you uncouth Neanderthal. You common folk don't understand the demands of the elite and high class."

"Well, since you didn't want a wish, I wonder why you wanted a mermaid then, hm? A trophy, perhaps? Are you a rare game collector, Laurent? You shoot pigeons, hunt foxes, kill turtles...that kind of stuff?"

"Sometimes, yeah. Not the turtle thing though, I rather like turtles. I'm a collector."

"Yeah, I can see that. Were you thinking of killing her and getting her stuffed, like your tiger rug and the moose head and that big grizzly bear in the corner? You're quite the taxidermist, Laurent."

Laurent sat up in his seat now, his eyes narrowing at Dante. He spat out, "What are you, some kind of charity, animal loving, enthusiastic activist? You're just a devil hunter...since when did you care about these things? Was it when you locked eyes with her and saw that she was naked and you instantly fell in love...or _lust_, with her?"

"Hey, that's none of your business." Dante retorted, but when Laurent smirked, he knew what he would say next.

"You screwed her, didn't you?" Laurent remarked, before he sniggered loudly, "I knew it. She tried to seduce you. That's not a human, like you or me, Dante. That's an animal. It's a creature. It's a sea monster. It's a-It's a half-woman, half-fish...THING. And you just went ahead and stuck yourself inside it?"

"She's pretty human to me." Dante said, with a light shrug. "And the sex was good."

"Urgh. Oh god, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Laurent grimaced, "Ah, too late. I can't un-hear things."

"Don't think anyone can, Laurent."

"...Let me show you something, Dante." Laurent got up in his seat to stand, and gestured for Dante to do the same. "Follow me, please."

The devil hunter rose, taking his guitar case with him; Laurent began to leave the lounge, stepping out of the door and into the corridor. He was holding a remote control in his hand, which he must've fished out from the breast pocket of his jacket, and he pressed down on a button. As Dante followed Laurent into the corridor, he was relatively surprised to see that one of the portraits adorning the corridor wall had moved, controlled by the remote, revealing an open doorway behind it.

"What's this, Laurent? Entrance to your secret underground lair?" Dante said, and Laurent chuckled.

"You could say that." Laurent strolled inside and down the staircase. Dante trailed behind him leisurely. "I don't show this to just anyone, Dante. Tell me, what do you know about mermaids?"

He shrugged. "I've never come across one until now. Hell, didn't even think they existed."

"But are they really monsters, Dante, or just lonely, misunderstood creatures?"

"I dunno."

It was dark inside the tunnel, except from a strange blue glow coming from further underneath, and as they travelled further down the staircase, a gargantuan aquarium finally loomed into view. It was at least the height of a four storey building, even bigger than the mansion itself. Dante knew they were rather deep underground. At the last step, Laurent walked up to the aquarium, which contained at least a dozen of fish species-maybe more-swimming inside, directionless.

Knocking on the thick glass, which made a hollow clunking noise, Laurent turned to Dante, and smiled. "What do you think?"

He whistled in appreciation. "You really weren't kidding when you said you were a collector, Laurent." said Dante, before he caught the golden plate in the corner which detailed the fish species inside as well as a 'feeding time' schedule.

The aquarium was very large. Inside, it looked like similar to a coral reef on an ocean bed, with rocks of various sizes with starfish, moss and limpets stuck to them, brightly multicoloured corals in all shapes and sizes, large stringy seaweed and kelp and an abundance of chalk-colored sand. Dante stared, watching the fish inside with a slight morbid fixation.

As Laurent stood beside him, he said, "I have been fascinated with the ocean ever since I was young, Dante. My great grandfather was a sailor, my grandfather was a fisherman, and my father was the Captain of a large supply boat, and my mother was a marine biologist. They spent a lot of their time in the sea and one day, it claimed their lives in a storm."

"Yet you still love the ocean." Dante murmured, as he watched a manta ray glide majestically through the clear waters.

"The ocean is an uncontrollable force, a part of nature we have no control over. The ocean is a mysterious world humans have yet to explore and discover. It covers two thirds of the earth, and everyday, even as we speak, we-on land- are slowly sinking. No-one knows how deep it really is. There has always been myth and legends about terrifying sea creatures and the lost city of Atlantis lurking underneath the waves...and the ocean, it is a blessing for it has bestowed such fabulous creatures to mankind." He replied, staring at a fat Sand Tiger shark swimming close towards a school of nervous-looking cod.

"Okay, okay, no need to tell me your life story. What's in the tank?"

Laurent tried to count, but eventually gave up and shrugged, "I think I have over twelve shark species, twenty tropical fish, a few turtles, some octopus and jellyfish specimens. I had a small whale somewhere too, but I have so much I've forgotten exactly how much I've got."

Suddenly, Dante saw the quick flash of a large orangey-grey tail zipping through the water, behind one of the large rocks near the far left of the aquarium. He'd seen a tail like that before. It was too large to be of a fish, and it could not be a shark. "That's..."

"Yes," said Laurent, as human-like fingers clutched at the rock before a young female's face curiously peeked out from the rock inside the tank, "It is a mermaid. Like the one you just handed to me half an hour ago."

Dante watched, as the mermaid swam out from its hiding place-it didn't exactly look like the way he had seen Mia in the warehouse with white hair and pistachio green eyes-instead, this mermaid had olive skin, golden eyes and long, jet black hair. Her body was also not as skeletal as Mia's either but the anatomy was the same. She was naked, with well-rounded breasts and hips. The mermaid had gills where her ribs should be, just like Mia in her mermaid form, but there was a row of thick spines outlining the back of her tail. She swam up to them in a smooth streamlined movement, coming to a stop to gaze at them from behind the thick glass. The mermaid settled her eyes on Laurent before stopping to stare at Dante for a fraction of a second, then she swam closer to his side.

"Urgh, they always go for the attractive ones." Laurent grumbled under his breath as the mermaid continued to peer inquisitively at the devil hunter.

"How long have you kept her here?" Dante asked, ogling at the mermaid from head to tail.

"Twenty years, I think. Maybe more."

Twenty? He'd kept this creature for twenty years? "How did you find her?"

"My parents left her to me. I call her Dara."

"You ever tried speaking to her...get her outta that tank?"

"No, but I know she understands me. She can feel my loneliness and pain. Watching her eases everything."

He couldn't really believe his ears, but before he could reply to that, the mermaid was swimming up to the surface of the tank and both men watched as she slithered through the water effortlessly. She stopped, glancing around curiously.

"I've never really seen her go up to the surface to breathe. I think the gills help." Laurent nudged at Dante with his elbow as he said that.

"What's she doing?" Dante murmured, and his question was answered when above the tank-a hatch was opened and he could see Caleb, who was dragging a familiar girl behind him. "Mia?"

The butler lined her up at the tank's opening and with one push of his hand on her back, Mia went tumbling into the water, scaring away half of the fish which had been swimming near the surface. Dante watched as Mia kicked and flailed helplessly in the water before he whipped round to Laurent sharply. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Don't worry, she's a mermaid. She'll survive." Laurent said, "She won't drown."

"Looks like she's drowning to me, genius." Dante snarled, pointing to the struggling girl in the water. He turned to the tank, and his eyes widened momentarily as the black-haired mermaid appeared to Mia and circled her, before she grabbed her wrist-and promptly began to drag her further and further down the tank to the bottom. Mia was struggling helplessly against the mermaid with her mouth closed as she tried to hold her breath, a stream of bubbles flying from her nostrils and sealed lips.

_Damn bitch is drowning her,_ Dante thought as he immediately pulled out Rebellion from his case and slammed it hard against the glass, earning a shocked scream from Laurent.

"What are you doing? No! Get away from my tank, you monster!" Laurent was shrieking hysterically, but Dante ignored him and proceeded to attack the tank's glass with his sword as hard as he could. Even when Laurent tried to stop him, he had no choice but to shove the man away.

As he watched Mia's scuffle with the antagonistic mermaid, he hacked away at the glass. Hold on, just hold on, he thought, and finally there was a little crack. He thrust Rebellion in and he drove the sword into the tank that half of the sword's length was now stuck halfway inside the tank. Water began leaking out from the fracture, but it wouldn't be enough.

"Nooooo!" Laurent was wailing, as Dante stepped back and protruded out one of his guns. He shot at the handle of Rebellion and the force of the bullet hit against the hilt. Immediately, the glass cracked with much more force, and eventually, it crumbled.

The mermaid briefly forgot about Mia and as the water began to leave the tank, the mermaid followed the force of the rushing water and slid out, landing on the floor of the basement, flopping around helplessly. She wailed as she writhed and squirmed around on the wet ground amongst some other fish that had also been unfortunately pulled out of the tank.

"Dara, no!" Laurent cried, before he rushed to the helpless creature's side.

"Wait-" Dante began but he was too late when the mermaid lunged at him with frightening speed and with her gaping jaws, she sunk her fangs into Laurent's neck. His screams could be heard as he toppled backwards, taking the mermaid with him as she began to maul him.

Dante fired at the mermaid's back and a horrible, ragged scream escaped from the back of her throat as a bullet sunk into her shoulder. The scream was like nails on chalkboard. She turned to the devil hunter, having forgotten about Laurent-who had stopped moving on the ground in a puddle of blood-and with a bird-like screech, the mermaid's appearance began to disintegrate-her hair and features eroded away, becoming more fish-like than human.

Her body was expanding that she looked bloated, and her golden eyes enlarged in her skull, moving towards the side of her head; her nostrils sunk into her face, her lips were becoming thinner and thinner but wider and massive that they stretched back to her ears, which now resembled two little black dots in the side of her head. Even her skin was turning a dark, sickly green and she was changing from a beautiful woman into a towering, amphibian beast with gargantuan arms and webbed claws.

"Damn, you are one ugly babe." Dante commented, as the fish-creature came at him only to be blown back by a couple of bullets slamming into its chest. Grinning now, he faced the creature with Rebellion gripped tightly in hand. "Let's rock, baby!"

It recoiled a little but the bullets he unloaded onto it did not much to harm it and the monster came at him again in a fierce motion. He dodged and its body slammed violently against the glass, making more cracks appear. As the basement began to get flooded, Dante was now standing in knee-length water and the creature began to pick up some agility, moving at a fast rate identical to his.

He evaded a swiping attack from one its claws before the spiked end of its forked tail hurtled towards him like a dart, attempting to strike him. Dante knocked the tail away with Rebellion before slicing at it. Blood spurted from its wounds, but the thick scales of the creature blotted out most of his attack. The demon's tail came swooping at him again and this time, it caught him and slammed his body backwards; he grunted as one of it's spikes impaled him through the chest, pinning him against the basement wall.

As it had him pinned, the creature finally averted its attention to the rest of the fish that had left Laurent's broken tank; it began to pick them up and greedily devour them, including a few of Laurent's prized sand tiger sharks which had been wriggling around on their sides. Mia, who was damp and lying on the ground motionless, was picked up next. It lifted her in mid-air and he began to fight against the bulky tail that was holding him down.

"Mia!" Dante yelled, but she did not wake up and the creature began to lower her into its enormous, gaping mouth. "Mia!"

Finally, she began to stir and she opened her eyes groggily before she realised she was stuck in an iron grip. She saw that she was hovering directly above the opened mouth of the mermaid-turned-monster and she began thrashing wildly in its hold immediately.

"_MIA_!" Dante pulled himself up, letting the spike push further into his chest-he grabbed it with his hands and ripped it off-and he tore through the tail. As the creature roared in pain, he ran up it along the rest of its jutting spikes and leapt off its head; he made a grab for the helpless girl and with Rebellion in his hand, he slashed at the claw that was holding her and the creature released her. Before she dropped into its mouth, however, Dante had seized her.

She gasped as Dante landed on the ground with her. He had her dipped low with one arm snaked around the waist and he smirked as she looked up; behind them, the demon reared up again, screeching for one final attack but without even looking over his shoulder, Dante had slammed Rebellion through its mouth as it lunged at him. The blade rammed through, piercing the roof of its mouth.

He heard it gurgling and rasping, before it swayed and dropped to the ground. Then it dissolved into water. Dead.

The basement fell silent until Mia began screaming. She shoved his hand off her and hopped out of his grip, tears were prevalent in her eyes. "You killed her." She sobbed.

"It tried to eat you."

She was shaking her head. "She just wanted to go home!"

Dante moved forwards to her. "Mia." He said, but she stepped away from him.

"No, don't come near me! Don't come any closer! You-you just killed one of my kind!" She was hysterical, shrieking and wailing frenziedly before she tried to make a run for the stairs. He caught her, pulling her into his arms.

"Mia, calm down-" he tried to make her face him, grabbing at her face.

"No-"

"Mia-"

"No, let go!"

"I was trying to protect you!"

She stopped struggling in his hold then and looked at him.

"I thought she was going to kill you-which she was-and I just knew I couldn't let that happen." He said. She didn't know what to do. But when he began to lead her towards the stairs, she didn't protest. "Let's go, alright? C'mon, let's go, we've had a long day..."


	9. His Lady Troubles

Hey guys, no reviews for the previous chapter... TAT But there are still hits so guess there are still people reading. I was on a writing roll so here is chapter 9; there was supposed to be a lemon but I got rid of it but there's still smut and limey things and more sarcastic conversations. I also decided to name each chapter :)

Please likey this too ~

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

They left the mansion in silence. Caleb promptly went missing. Laurent was dead in his basement. An ambulance was called but he guessed the mission was over. At least he still had Laurent's cheque. Hopefully he could still get it cashed in.

At the hotel he'd booked for the night, he checked in, received the keys to their room from the receptionist and once they were in their room-it was a rather cramped room with a double bed taking up most of the space- Dante decided to take a shower while Mia stayed sitting on the bed, staring at the TV he'd switched on for her. The channel was displaying a late-night talk show that bored her so she looked around, trying to find something interesting to do.

During the journey to the hotel, she could not speak to him, and she felt awful for shunning him. It was hard for her but she could not bring herself to face him. He had just killed one of her kind. He did it so easily. It did not make sense why she was still staying with him.

If she really wanted, she could even run away from him right here and now.

He was showering; he wouldn't hear her leave. She could just run out of the room this very moment and never look back. However, she didn't do any of the sort and went towards the window and pulled away the blind. The flashing neon signs from the nearby buildings highlighted that there were strip clubs, gambling spots and other shady places galore (which would explain why the hotel was so cheap and even the people lurking inside it were equally peculiar, and not in the good way, too).

She could even hear loud, erotic moaning and groaning coming from the room beside them as well as the rhythmic thumping of a headboard banging against the wall. Sighing, Mia walked away from the window and towards the clothes rack where she had spotted a little but thick, tattered notebook with a black leather case poking out from the pocket of Dante's trenchcoat; she opened it and inside were little crude drawings of demons and creatures he'd encountered. She made a little hum from the back of her throat since she didn't think he'd be the kind to keep a log like this. Along with the basic pictures of the demons he'd fought, were small descriptions of them in messy handwriting.

She flipped to the last entry and saw that he'd drawn a mermaid –or what was supposed to be one- and she looked up at the bathroom door which was closed and she could hear the water whooshing inside. Hopefully Dante wouldn't come out anytime soon. Mia took the book with her to the desk and sat down.

_Mermaid_, he had written. _Has long white hair and light-green eyes. Can walk on land. Looks malnourished. Offers wishes. Hot as hell._

His description brought a smile to her face. Unfortunately, it seemed that was all he had written about 'mermaids'. Mia grabbed a pen from one of the desk's drawers and pondered what to add to that. When she knew what to write, she jotted down:

_Lives in deep waters. _

_Feeds on small fish. _

_Preyed on by sharks and orcas._

After scribbling in the extra parts, she returned the book in his pocket. Now that she thought about it more, Dante was just doing his job. And the mermaid did try to drown her and when that didn't work, it tried to eat her. If Dante hadn't saved her, she would've been dead by now. Even though she was a demon, he still saved her.

She sighed gently. It wasn't his fault that she was a demon, and it wasn't his fault that he was a demon hunter.

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

In the shower, he simply stood under the hot water. He'd killed a mermaid-one of Mia's kind.

How come the majority of his jobs and missions always ended on a sad note and in such a depressing manner? He groaned and scrubbed at himself as the water poured down over his body.

He was absorbed in his thoughts until he saw the curtain rustle; it was pulled back and Mia climbed into the tub with him. She pulled the shower curtain back to its previous place and stood behind him. He didn't know what she wanted. They had an argument and it didn't feel like she was going to forgive him very soon.

They stood in silence until she said, "Dante."

"Is this gonna be a bad habit of yours, babe?" He replied as he threw his glance over his shoulder, "Sneaking into beds and showers when I'm in them, naked?"

"Possibly." She said, before she reached for the hotel's cheap brand of shower gel by her feet on the floor of the tub and picked it up. She emptied a dollop on him before she began rubbing and massaging his broad, and somewhat tense shoulders. "You don't mind, do you? I'm naked too."

He twitched slightly. "Nope. In fact, you should do it more often."

Despite the banter, it felt uncomfortable and constrained this time. There was another silence following until Mia murmured, "Dante, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I know that you were trying to protect me."

Under the shower, he stuck his head under the spray and wetted his hair, "I dunno...you said some mean stuff...You hurt my feelings pretty bad back there."

She couldn't tell if he was being his usual self or if he really meant it. "I'm sorry." She put down the bottle to wrap her arms around him and she rested her cheek against his soapy back, her fingers raking up and down his chest. "I'm sorry."

He inhaled a hiss at her contact. Previously, he played along with her as much as she played with him. Now, for some reason, everything she did to him had to have this kind of effect. He'd flirted with female demons (and humans) before and they flirted back, but Mia didn't seem to do anything of the sort. Or did she? Like what? He didn't think of any in-your-face, wise-cracking remarks or outrageous actions she did...she never even looked at him in a flirty manner... oh wait, here she was, naked in the shower with him. Maybe this counted as 'flirting'. It didn't matter; she was the one who would always make him buckle in the end. She didn't even have to do anything. She could just stand there whilst looking at him and he'd feel weak. Even when the topless, shrouded-in-bats Nevan the Lightning Witch approached him he wasn't even that impressed.

But here he was, shuddering and trying to stop himself from groaning as she continued to rake her nails over the front of his flat, washboard stomach, her fingertips tracing over the creases of his muscles and his six-pack.

How the hell could she keep managing to rub him the right way like this? After a short while, when he still did not respond, she rubbed herself against him eagerly as though trying to elicit a reaction from him. There was a reaction, no doubt. He was growing hard. Placing a palm flat against the grimy bathroom wall, he took her hand with his other and held it.

"It's okay, Mi. I'm not angry. I wasn't even angry." He turned round to her, "See? Not angry."

"I'm so sorry." She said as she let go of him, and Dante took her face in his hands and kissed her, although dirty images of what he'd like to do to her whilst she was naked in the shower with him sprang into his mind. She wrapped her arms around him again. He hesitated for a second because the act felt intimate...genuine. It wasn't like previously where he'd just hold her or kiss her because he felt like it. And it didn't feel as though Mia was holding him because she _felt like it_, too.

"What's wrong?" He asked, as the hot water from the shower head poured down his back, ridding him of the soap.

"The water is too hot."

He reached behind him, adjusting the shower dial to a lower temperature. "Better?"

She nodded, rubbing her cheek against his chest before she let go of him with one hand and it trailed down in between his legs, touching his arousal gently. His mind went foggy immediately. As she stroked him idly, she murmured, "...You didn't have to save me from Laurent."

He unconsciously licked his lips. "...Hey, the guy wanted to add you to his crazy, creepy collection."

"Yes, I know, but you had no obligation to help me."

Dante rubbed at the back of his neck as he stood with Mia and her arm wrapped around him, the other still gliding up and down on his hardened shaft. He was trying hard not to thrust himself into her hand just there. "...Laurent got what he deserved in the end." He uttered, recalling the scene where the mermaid maimed him. Hmm, so that was what twenty years of confinement did to someone...

"It was revenge."

"Look, that guy was plainly a monster. He kept a mermaid in his basement for more than twenty years and when he saw you, he wanted to add another one to his fish tank. I don't know about you but that's pretty wacked up."

She nodded in agreement, still stroking him. Any more of that and he might lose himself.

"When that mermaid chick tried to drown you...and when she tried to eat you..." As he left his sentence trailing, he grabbed the shampoo bottle and squeezed some out on top of her head, "I thought you guys were quite the friendly bunch with each other."

"She was so isolated, she couldn't tell from friend or foe." She replied, as he began to wash her head.

He did not believe her. Dante then thought about the hideous creature that was once the black-haired mermaid he had seen in the tank, "So...I guess that's what you're packing too under that cute face and hot bod, am I right?"

She knew what he was talking about immediately. "I will never become like that." Mia replied, before she glanced up at him as he grabbed the shower off the hook on the wall and proceeded to wash out the bubbly shampoo from her hair, "You saved me. You've saved me several times by now. Is this the first time you've helped a demon, Dante?"

"Nah. There was this one demon dude who had the hots for this rich chick."

"You didn't kill him?"

"Nope."

"And you helped them, right? You helped them get together?"

"Yeah, I s'pose." He muttered, as he pushed and smoothed his palms at her wet and sleek, dark-brown hair. A while later and he murmured, "First thing in the morning tomorrow, I'm taking you home. I'm taking you back to the ocean."

Her eyes widened instantly. "But I-"

"It's where you belong anyway, right? The land of the two-legged doesn't really suit you. If you stay here, there's no difference; you'll just turn out like that chick in the bowl. You'll miss your home and one day you'll feel like you want to maul someone in the neck."

"No, I won't. I promise you. I am different." She said sternly, "I don't want to go back there."

"Why not?" He asked as he fixed the shower back onto the holster on the wall, and she glanced down glumly.

"Because I've always been alone...and I like being with you." She uttered, "...I really do. And this has never happened to me before. It's kind of scary, but...I'm also really happy at the same time."

At first, there was quite the lengthy silence, until he grinned and chuckling, he said, "Hmm, is this a _love confession_?"

When she was silent, he put his hands on her shoulders then he cupped her neck, peering at her for a response. She merely smiled at him and clasped her hands over his, "I don't want to go back, Dante. If it's possible, I'd like to stay with you a little bit longer-"

"Mi, you can stay with me for as long as you want." His reply was quick, and he reached for her and kissed her on the forehead. "You can stay for as long as you want..."

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

A day later, Lady arrived at Devil May Cry. She parked her motorcycle in an empty space and entered the establishment, pushing open the doors. Although the shop had always been a right mess, she could tell the shop had been neglected because the amount of beer cans and pizza boxes had positively increased, the jukebox was on standby with a new indent (most likely caused by Dante's fist), the blinds were still drawn shut and the floor was coated in a thin layer of dust. Patty would be not be pleased with this if she saw it. Venturing in further, she was greeted with the sight of the devil hunter and a girl tangled in each other's arms on the sofa.

"Urgh. Get a room." She barked in distaste, as Dante and the girl pulled away from each other. This wouldn't be the first time she'd walked in on Dante with a partner. She'd seen worse.

"Lady, don't you know how to knock?" Dante said with his infamous grin; his hair was messier than usual and his shirt-and his fly-was unzipped.

"I thought you would've gotten used to my uncalled visits. Now get your horny schoolboy ass over here and pay me what's due."

He took longer to reply, engrossed with the girl in his lap who was now kissing his neck. "...Babe...hold on, I need to deal with this." Dante finally said, and she slid out of his arms and onto the sofa, smoothing down her hair. He kissed her on the forehead and almost reluctantly, he pulled away to get up and zipped his shirt and fly. He sauntered to the desk before pulling out one of the cupboards, then fished out a bunch of money notes and split them into two. "Lemme see...how much do I owe ya..."

Dante seemed as unkempt as the shop was. He was sporting more stubble than usual and the corners of his mouth was very wet. Lady ogled the girl on the sofa. It was the girl she'd seen in the shop previously. The one who was hiding behind the staircase railing, looking scared and meek as a mouse. This time she didn't seem afraid of her presence at all. Instead, she was smiling coolly with her lips bruised and swollen and her shirt unbuttoned to a certain extent-it was then Lady saw an angry-red prevalent mark on her neck-a lovebite, and a very violent one, too. Ever since Lady went to conduct her investigation about the man-eater, who knows what kind of shenanigans Dante had gotten up to with his new female friend?

"Hey, Mia." Lady said, giving her a brief nod.

"Hello Lady." replied the girl. She smiled at her but Lady didn't smile back.

Turning to Dante, Lady said, "Can I speak to you in private?" She tilted her head towards the direction of his kitchen.

"We can talk here."

"Just get over here, Dante."

"Fine, fine..."

He followed her into the kitchen and she shut the door behind them. "What is she doing here anyway?" Lady asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Dante shrugged at her as he casually leaned against one of the kitchen counters, "I can't have a friend over?"

"Very funny." Lady replied, before her expression darkened, "...She's a demon, Dante."

"Nothin' wrong with that." He said; besides, he'd seen her cry.

"Does she fight?"

"Nope."

"You trust her?" She asked, and he nodded. Lady then stepped closer to him, "You seem normal to me...You're not under any spell or anything."

"No, I'm not. As you can see, I'm as clear as day."

"Well...you wouldn't mind if I keep an eye on her, would you?"

"Go ahead. I'm not hiding anything. She's not hiding anything...but just to let you know we're really tight, in more ways than one, if you get what I mean."

"Okay, fine, since you're so confident...I'm pretty sure your 'love' for each other can stand the test of the time." Lady replied, with a roll of her eyes.

"Now, is this interrogation over or is there anything else you wanna ask?"

"No, I'm good."

They left the kitchen and returned to the lounge where Mia was now raking through one of the magazines on the sofa. She looked up as they re-emerged, but said nothing. Dante and Lady went to the desk where Dante opened the drawer and fished around for the cash Lady was due.

"I think that's it." He handed her a small wad of bills he'd separated from the main stash, and Lady glanced away from the girl on the sofa.

"You ass, don't think you can con me. Gimme that." Lady snatched the small money wad out of his hand and the rest of the bills, before counting it herself. "This is for all those pizzas you put on my tab last week." She divided the bill stash into a small portion. "This is for destroying the front tyre and the brakes of my motorcycle three weeks ago when you went for that joyride." Again, she divided and pulled out a portion of the stash.

"It was NOT a joyride, I was chasing-"

"And this is for dirtying my costume last time. Thanks to you I lost my deposit." She took the rest, leaving him with nothing.

"Hey, you just took all my money!"

"Yeah, 'cos that's how much you owe me, moron. And there's more you owe me. This only covers the expenses from two months ago."

"Wha..."

"Don't worry," Mia piped up all of a sudden, "I can pay."

Immediately, Lady and Dante swerved their eyes to the girl as she got up from the sofa and sauntered near them. "Geez, Dante, now you're getting your girlfriend to pay for your stuff. That's a whole new level of low."

"Hey," Dante snapped back at the female hunter, "I don't need anyone paying for me-"

Mia sidled in between the bickering duo and held up her hands. "Dante. Just tell me how much you owe Lady." She said, crossing her arms over her chest, "And I will pay. It will settle everything once and for all, am I right?"

"And how exactly are you going to pay?" Lady asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait, we're actually having this conversation?"

"Yes, Dante, we are."

Turning to the mermaid, he said, "You're telling me you got a treasure chest of gold somewhere in the bottom of the ocean, Mi?"

"Perhaps."

"So where'd you get all this alleged gold?" Dante uttered, before he too crossed his arms.

"You'll be surprised by the amount of gold that is lost to the ocean."

"Seriously?!"

As Dante began laughing, Lady slammed both of her hands on the desk. "This is getting weird. Look... unless I see a single cent, I won't let you off so easily, Dante." Lady said and Dante growled, "And whatever you do, Mia, don't pay for him. He'll just treat you like a twenty-four-seven banking service."

"You have such a low opinion of me, Lady." Dante said, but Lady merely snubbed him with a derisive snort.

She stepped away from the desk and manoeuvred towards the doors. "So, what happened with your job anyway? This has been your most well-paid job ever."

"Yeah. The guy was a real wack job; he wanted to add her to his collection." Dante replied; he put his arm around Mia and pulled her close to him and added, "It's a long story. What's happening with your job?"

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing interesting. I've been looking for leads and I think I know where the next one is. Don't worry." She said, before she spun on her heel and marched towards the exit.

"You're leaving already?"

"Yeah, I just came to get what's due. I'll be back."

"I'm not looking forward to it."

"Yes, well, neither am I. The feeling's mutual." Lady snapped, "See ya." And she shut the doors of Devil May Cry behind her; Dante and Mia were left alone.

He turned to her then. "Where were we?"

"The sofa, or the money."

"Hm...Think I prefer the sofa." He mused with a grin, nudging his head towards the direction of his couch.

"Dante, your debt is a serious problem."

"Don't sweat it. I can pay Lady. I'll think of something."

"I can give you the money; just think of it as repayment for saving my life." Mia replied, with a shrug, "There's no point in me just staying here all day doing nothing while you go and hunt demons. I think I should try and...I don't know, get a job somewhere, you know, do something useful for a change." Mia went to the scattered magazines and leaflets, and found the opened newspaper on the desk; she checked the date (it was today's), and she skipped to the Vacancies section.

"Mi, you're not serious, are you?"

"Oh look, it says the Love Planet are now hiring waitresses-"

She didn't see him bristle. "That old joint?" Dante said quickly, "Tch. Why the hell would you want to work there? It's full of nothing but sleazeballs and lowlifes." Although he frequented it quite a lot for the girls back in his old days, he didn't want Mia working there.

"It's just a waitressing job. All I need to do is take orders and serve food and drink."

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do when you start popping up scales all over the place?"

She glanced down at her legs. "I'll be like this for some time, Dante."

"One word, two letters: NO."

She smiled at his sudden cloudy expression as he took the newspaper off her, folded it and proceeded to stuff the paper in his cupboard. "Are you worried about my welfare, Dante? That's very sweet of you."

"I can be even sweeter." He dipped down to lift her up and walked over to the couch before throwing her on it, and then he proceeded to climb on top of her.

**xxxxxxxxxx**


	10. A Past Best Forgotten

Thanks for the favs/alerts! Thanks to all those who are still reading! Thank you KuroSeiRyuu for the review...I was going to give up on this...T.T

I hope you all like this long chapter :))) You will find out if Mia is the man eating demon here...

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

Maria trekked down the staircase leading to the basement with a pair of keys in hand. It was midnight and she knew he was sleeping so he wouldn't know that she had left the bed they shared. Tonight, she had one goal in mind. She could see the creature inside the tank; it had been sleeping, curled up with its tail tucked neatly into itself. Instantly, it sensed her presence and woke up. It unfurled and stared at her with its pupil-less eyes and Maria swallowed down. Then it swam to the surface of the water and poked its head out, as though it had expected her arrival.

She saw a ladder in the corner and grabbed it, then settled it against the tank before making sure it was sturdy and would not slip. Maria climbed up the rickety rungs and to the rim of the tank, facing the creature. It backed away from her and remained submerged in the water. Only its eyes and the crown of her head were exposed above the surface, like the way how a crocodile stalked its prey in a river.

She didn't really know what she was doing, but ever since the mermaid became the newest family member, it had made things with her fiancé worse. All he could do was talk about the mermaid. All he could see was the mermaid. Maria was forgotten...she was no longer important to him. She felt like a shadow, invisible and inferior in comparison to the mermaid...a creature he had just found days ago... yet Maria was the one who had stood by him through his time of hardships, the one who had known him since childhood...

Now she was nothing.

When she held up the keys that would unlock the shackles, it finally swam closer and Maria took one of its arms. It was very cold, slimy to touch and it was slippery, but she managed to grab onto the chain and unlock it. One of the mermaid's arms slid free and the creature looked at her freed limb in silence. When Maria unlocked the shackle around her other wrist, the mermaid was lingering in the water, glancing at her wrists.

"There. You can leave." Maria said, "Go."

However, the mermaid remained stationary. It's lips moved. It had spoken, but she didn't hear.

She moved closer, having to hover over the water. It swam up to her and then-

Maria was grabbed and pulled into the tank...her screams were unheard.

Later, he woke up to find Maria missing from the bed. He didn't really care. The first thing he did was put on his slippers and head towards the basement. "Mermaid, how are you this morning?" He said with a yawn, as he walked down the stairs. He stopped when he saw that the tank's water was red. "Mermaid?!" He rushed up to the tank now, planting his palms flat against the glass. "No, no, no!"

He hastily climbed up the ladder, and he saw the mermaid circling the tank. To his relief, she was unharmed and safe. But then he saw a pile of clothes floating in the water. It was Maria's nightclothes...the ones she had been wearing... and there was something floating amongst the clothes too; he could not make out what it was, but it seemed to be a large chunk of flesh... He never fed the mermaid at all last night...what could it be?

A sense of dread came over him and he could not move. The mermaid finally stopped swimming and rose from the water. He watched her for a brief moment and she was staring at him, before he realised she was chewing on something. He reached towards her and grabbed at the thing in her mouth before pulling it out. Something long and red came out, and he had to tug at it to make her let go.

And when she did, he discovered it to be a dismembered finger.

He screamed and dropped it, stumbling backwards. The ladder went down with him and he landed on the ground, writhing painfully. When he looked up, rubbing at his aching back, he saw her turning away with a flick of her tail, disappearing into the bloody, murky water.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The dream ended and Mia woke up, disturbed.

She was in bed and she was not alone; the devil hunter lay beside her with his arm draped over her waist whilst his face was buried in the crook of her neck. Although he was sleeping, she could feel the power in his grip as he held her, the possessiveness and the passion. She could feel his breath on her shoulder, the warmth emanating from his body. Their close proximity made her feel better immediately. It had been so long since she had been in someone's embrace; she found that she really missed the feeling.

Averting her gaze to the window, she could see the moonlight seep into the room through the slits of the drawn blinds. It was very late. She should really try and sleep... She drew in a deep breath and sighed loudly.

"...Mi?"

She swerved her eyes to the devil hunter whom she was resting on. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah." He was mumbling with his eyes closed, "...What were you dreaming about? Sounded like you were having a bad dream."

"Nothing. Just dreaming about the ocean. I'm fine."

"Okay, baby..." He muttered blearily. He shifted, but he was still holding her tightly to him.

Mia remained lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. She didn't miss the ocean. It was too empty and too lonely there. And she was haunted by a past she could not run away from; she had dreamed a distant memory that still plagued the depths of her mind.

_I'm not like that anymore. I'm different. _

Yet she couldn't get back to sleep, and she sat up. Dante did not stir. Mia lifted his arm off her waist and tucked it neatly under the covers, then she slipped out of bed and left the sanctity of the devil hunter and his bedroom.

She went down the stairs, then pulled on the old boots Dante had left for her should she ever want to go out sometime. The shop was silent, except from the loud ticking from the clock on the wall and the low hum of the fridge in the corner. There wasn't much to do in Devil May Cry aside from reading magazines, listening to the jukebox, eating, watching the usually-broken TV or playing cards. She could read a magazine, but she wasn't in the mood. Instead, Mia looked outside the window, staring at the pitch black night outside before returning to the lounge. She sat, wondering what to do.

She kept thinking about the man who found her washed ashore after a fierce storm, the man who caught her, locked her and kept her in the tank all those years... her _owner_. Mia closed her eyes and tried to forget... ever since she met Dante she couldn't help feeling ashamed of herself. She'd just been eating fish religiously but the desire for human flesh would always be there. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and shook her head.

_No! I can't give in! I can't-_

Mia sniffed the air.

She could smell blood. Human blood. Mia got off the couch and moved towards the window, peeking outside. She couldn't see anything but she could smell blood being spilled somewhere, and lots of it. Her mouth watered. Maybe a walk outside would keep her mind off things...

Mia left the shop after pulling on a thick jumper. She wandered not too far, hoping to wander down one block and back but the stench of blood was growing more powerful and powerful. She found herself walking towards the scent, lured by the stench. Her search led her to an alleyway, and she gasped.

On the ground before her, was the dead body of a human being. Around the corner and she could hear rapid footsteps leaving the scene.

_A murder...? _Mia threw her gaze to the corpse. He had just been killed moments ago. The long trail of blood that led round the corner further into the alleyway was still fresh. He was missing his head and an arm. His chest was caved in with his entrails leaking out, resembling nothing but a ruddy, pulpy red mess. He had been devoured...or at least, was partially devoured... The overwhelming scent of the blood hit her nose and she automatically licked her lips.

She took a step forwards until a figure swooped down in front of her from the roof of the building and a gun was aimed at her forehead. "Hold it."

Mia didn't move as soon as the figure moved under the dim light of the moon. "Lady?!"

The female devil hunter stepped to the side, holding the gun to her temple. "What the hell are you doing here? Don't you know what time it is? All good girls are meant to be in bed before nine."

"Lady, i-it wasn't me."

"I'll be the one deciding that. It's not good to be caught in the middle of a murder scene, you know." Lady said, before she cocked the gun, her finger curling around the trigger. "And the culprit is usually the one who finds the body."

Before Mia could speak, another voice spoke up: "She's telling the truth; it wasn't her."

Both girls looked over to see Dante strolling towards them leisurely. He was half-dressed, only adorned in his pants and boots. Rebellion was slung over his shoulder while his two guns were strapped to the back of his belt. He strode over to Mia and stopped beside her. "She's been with me the whole entire night in bed." He said, giving her shoulder a squeeze, and Lady's expression scrunched up somewhat. "I was watching her. She just went out for a walk a minute ago. She couldn't have done all that, not in that little amount of time. Besides...she was nowhere near the crime scene. The blood's still fresh which means the culprit is still nearby. Looks like I missed the party."

"I can handle this on my own." Lady then proceeded to sidestep around the carcass and storm down the alleyway with her gun in hand and her signature weapon, the large and bulky rocket launcher Kalina Ann, strapped behind her.

"You sure?"

"YES."

He held his arms up as though in mock surrender. "Fine."

When she disappeared round the corner, Mia turned to Dante who glanced at her from the corner of his eye. A while later, he shrugged his broad shoulders and led her out of the alleyway. "You're not going with her?" Mia asked, as they began to return towards the direction of the shop.

He wound his fingers around hers, rubbing his thumb against the palm of her hand, "Hey, you heard the lady, she said she wants to be on her own. If she needs my help, she'll come calling." He stopped in his tracks and settled one large palm on her cheek while the other was planted atop her head and he began to inspect her briefly, "You're not traumatised or anything, are you?"

"I'm fine." She said, and he took her hand once more as they resumed their quiet walk back towards the shop. They walked rather close to one another, their shoulders almost touching. She could feel his gaze on her but she didn't say anything. Instead, she threw her gaze to the full, rounded moon in the sky; walking with Dante like this was nice. She felt safe with him, and when the logo of the shop loomed into view, indicating that their walk had almost come to an end, Mia's heart inwardly sank.

As soon as he walked up to the doors, he let go of her hand to move forwards and with a hefty kick, they swung open and he gestured for her to enter. "After you, baby."

Mia smiled lightly at him again and swiftly entered the shop, although as she passed him she gingerly placed her hand on his face, her fingertips sliding from his angled cheek to his jaw and the bottom of his chin, before she drew her hand away gently, almost teasingly. She threw her glance over her shoulder and headed towards the stairs. He was watching her every move. Their eyes met. He never let go of her gaze, and grinning, he followed her as she made her way to the bedroom, kicking the doors shut behind him.

**xxxxxxxxx**

Dante was still asleep when Mia woke up the next day. "Wake up, Dante, it's noon already."

Her only response was an inaudible groan and a grumble; even when she shook him he did not move. She sighed and left him the way he was. Stumbling out of his embrace and out of the bed, she changed into a clean set of clothes and went downstairs. She returned to the lounge which had been untouched since Lady's brief visit. Maybe she should tidy around for a while...

She found a roll of black binbags in the kitchen which was left along with some other cleaning supplies that had a piece of cardboard stuck on the wall saying 'PATTY'S CRAP' (most likely written by Dante since she recognised the handwriting). She left the mop, bucket and feather duster for now; instead, she went around the office with the bag, stuffing rubbish inside. Once that was done, she tied the bag into a tight knot and left the shop.

If Dante was awake, he'd probably mention how un-mermaid like this was of her, to be cleaning after him and his shop. She had been hoping it would make him happy.

Outside, she couldn't see any rubbish collection point anywhere but she caught sight of yellow police tape stretched around the opening of the alleyway where she had found the body last night. There was a small crowd of people around, pointing and whispering amongst themselves. Mia put down the bag to the side and was about to go up to the crowd to see what had come out from yesterday's disturbing findings until further down the street, there was a sign on the door of the Love Planet that said 'HELP WANTED'.

She briefly remembered Dante forbidding her from getting a job there. Perhaps asking about the vacancy would still be acceptable, since this would be the first time in attempting to get a job. She could find out what kind of questions they asked and what they were looking for, and then she could go to another place about jobs. There was no harm in that. _Money in exchange for labour, how quaint_, she thought as she returned to the shop. She washed her hands and checked herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess; she glanced around and picked up a comb which obviously belonged to Dante. She combed her hair with it until it was smooth, tidy and clear of knots (hoping he wouldn't mind), then stepped out to see Dante arriving at the top of the banister, half-naked.

"Oh, you're finally up." She said, as she walked to fridge and opened the door.

He nodded, yawning, then did a few stretches, starting with his left arm first then his right; his biceps went taut before he flexed his wide, muscular shoulders. Once he was finished, he leapt off the railing and landed on the floor of his shop, taking long strides before he stopped behind her. "Hey," He greeted, as his strong arms came crushing around her, bringing her into his affectionate embrace. "Sleep well?"

She had to move her head to the side when he kissed the side of her neck and she nodded briskly.

"What are you doing?"

"I was going to get something to eat."

"I'll just call for a takeaway," He let go of her to saunter to the couch where he lay down, whipping out one of his pistols that were attached to the back of his belt and he began playing around with it, spinning it in circles before letting it twirl up, down and around and around his finger. "What do you feel like having?"

"You can't afford a takeaway." She pointed out as she gazed at the pizza and bottles of Budweiser lined inside. A sticky label on a bottle said 'YOU OWE ME A PIZZA, OLD MAN. –Nero.' "Is that all you eat, just pizza and beer?"

"Combine that with some fights every now and then... I think it's a healthy diet, dontcha think?"

"...Not really. You should eat more fish. It's good for you."

Dante pulled himself off the couch and towards his desk; he sat down on his chair after kicking one of the legs that it went flying upwards, spiraling, and the chair went slamming down on its legs again but otherwise it was unfazed and unbroken. Dante crossed his legs over the surface of the desk. He reminded her of a king lounging on his throne and he made a little gesture for her to come towards him; she stopped beside him and he pulled her into his lap. She had never been near his desk but when she saw the picture frame in the corner, it caught her curiosity. He followed her gaze and it landed on the small portrait of his mother but he said nothing, deciding to observe her reaction.

"Can I see that photograph?"

He nodded.

She reached for the frame, and being careful not to get her fingerprints on it, she held it daintily in her small hands. He scrutinised her, as she stared at the woman in the frame. "...She's very beautiful. I almost forgot you are the Son of Sparda."

"Ah, so you knew." He said with a smile, rubbing at her arm before he took a brown lock of hair in his hands and intertwined his fingers with it.

"...You could wish for her back. In fact, you could wish none of it ever happened."

"If its one thing I know, it's that you can't change what's happened, babe." Dante replied, but she could tell she had hit a rather sensitive spot and she replaced the frame on the desk before wrapping her arms around his neck. He added, "Besides...if I do that, then it means I wouldn't have met all you wonderful people."

Mia knew he was being sarcastic. She didn't reply to that but kissed him on top of the head softly.

"What about you? You got a mermaid mom and dad out there?"

She threw her glance to the side. She tried to think but ultimately found that nothing really came to mind. The entire time she'd been with Dante, she thought their relationship at the beginning was based on a sexual, physical attraction. Since he was asking her this deep question, she wondered if he was attempting to engage with her on a more emotional level.

"Well, before I...was like this, I was..." Before she could finish, a throbbing pain sprang in her mind and she cried out, holding her head. "Nghh!"

His arms were around her in seconds, "Mi, what's wrong? Mi?"

The pain was growing stronger, her head pounding as though it might explode. this was all happening because she was trying to remember something about herself...Eerie white flashes seized her vision... and slowly, the white flashes began to shift and blur into different colors until...they manifested into images.

She saw that she was in a dark and gloomy place, surrounded by silence. She was in water... Above her, she could make out the bottom of a boat, or from what she learned from listening to the conversations of sailors, was called the keel. Something was out of place here. No, this isn't right... something happened before this. Again, there was a white flash. The image changed.

_"Over here!"_

She saw a girl...There was a harbour, the sea and...a boat...a small boat-the same one she had just seen. The images were still blurry. She could not make out the girl's face, but Mia could feel and see that she was there. It felt like she was in a dream; she could see what was going on through her own eyes...or what should've been her own eyes.

She saw a man next. Just like the girl, Mia knew he was there but could not identify him properly. He was standing beside that girl in the harbour but he was untying the ropes of the boat, getting it ready... She knew him from somewhere.

_"If you both don't want to be seen, you better hurry up!"_

_"Wait, I-I'm coming!" _She heard her voice next. But she was not speaking. It was like she was watching a tape being replayed.

_"Did you bring everything?"_

_"Yes. It's all here."_

_"Good..."_

The image changed yet again, from the harbour to...to...it didn't matter for the next image she saw, and it was so realistic too, but she was suddenly seeing everything upside down, and she knew she was falling...she could see the sky-it was pitch black- and her back hit the water. Then everything went silent. Again, she was alone in a dark, empty place.

As she sunk under the waves...she spotted the dark, almost menacing outline of the boat against the shimmering moonlight on the water's surface and-

**"Mia!"**

She was brought back to reality when Dante called her name and she jerked in his grip. The pain ebbed away as she abandoned the attempt to remember. "...I'm fine." She muttered as she climbed out of his lap-she had a urge to leave, to get away, to be by herself- and she stood, then quickly stormed to the doors and with a quick, "_I need some air_" she hastily left the shop.

"Mi, wait." Dante got off his seat and went to the doors, opening them to see an empty street ahead. "...For a mermaid, she sure walks fast."

**xxxxxxxxx**

After she recovered, Mia decided to visit the Love Planet and she pushed open the doors, walking into the establishment with the intention to ask about the vacancy. Since she had left the shop, she might as well do something since she was outside...

It was devoid of customers; however, a barman and a cleaner were nearby, getting ready for tonight's services. Mia glanced around. The interior of the Love Planet was a restaurant with numerous rounded tables covered in satin-white tablecloths. Unlit candle stands stood in the middle of these tables along with the Love Planet menus, and there was a large stage that was T-shaped that stretched into the seated area; at the very end of the T-shaped stage featured several poles on both left and right sides. A glistening black piano stood at the far corner.

She saw a small bar to the left. There were posters of a dozen girls all in poses designed to stimulate the male audience stuck to the walls. There were also many leaflets outlining various services from laundry to tutoring. The bar area was more pleasant to look at, with a clear glass display of numerous drink such as Tia Maria, Southern Comfort and Jack Daniels (which she recognised because she'd seen Dante drink some). The bar was a U-shape, surrounded by a dozen of high chairs or so, and there were a couple of seats with tables lined against the wall.

Her attention was caught by the man-presumably the owner-who was seated on one of the couches by the door that said 'toilets', barking on the handheld phone. "NO! Ya hear me! I'm not sellin'! I don't care about these murders! The police are gonna catch this crazy motherfucka anyway! So take yer money and shove it up yer fuckin' arse cos I ain't sellin!"

Mia tilted her head to the side but then the barkeep called her over. "Sorry, but we're closed right now. Come back at seven."

He was perhaps roughly around the same age as Dante. "I came to ask about a job vacancy." She replied, walking towards the bar counter.

He looked at her from head to toe and put down the glass he had been cleaning, "Oh, right. Yeah, we're looking for a new waitress on the floor. Don't worry, we got enough for the show-" He pointed to the T-shaped stage and the poles. "-so you're quite safe. Uh...I wouldn't say this to anyone, but, um...There's a diner not too far away from here which is also recruiting-"

"Louis? Are ya turning away another customer? Shut the fuck up and keep dryin' those glasses, ya little shit. They're a fuckin' state!" screamed the man on the couch, who had apparently finished his phone conversation. He stood up while the bartender sighed heavily, "You there, girl, ya wanna job, right? Come into ma office for a chitchat."

The barman called Louis watched Mia follow the owner into his office through the fire exit door. He shook his head, a little sadly.

Inside the office of the Love Planet, the man barked at her to sit down on the leather seat opposite his across the desk. He then sat himself down and propped his legs up on the surface, which reminded her that this was the same way Dante sat at his desk. The man grabbed a fat brown cigar off his desk tidy and lit the end up with his lighter which he fished from his pockets.

"The name's Ernie. I'm the owner of this joint. Ya see all these pictures of the girls? They're all ma gals. I take 'em, and I transform 'em. From itty-bitty teeny weeny little caterpillars into beautiful butterflies. And ya wanna work here, right?"

She nodded meekly.

"Yeah, well if you got what it takes, I'll clean ya, rub ya like that lamp with the genie and turn ya into a real gem, alright? But right now, ya gotta work from the bottom. Ya gotta see and know how everything works, before ya can step into those five inch high pencil heels."

She nodded, although she looked unsure as to why she had nodded in the first place.

"See those two girls other there?" Ernie was pointing to two posters-one of a beautiful girl with blonde hair and another exotic-looking girl with black hair. "Renata and Clio. My most popular escorts. One day, ya'll be just like them... Helpin' me rake tonnes and tonnes of cash from those chumps who keep comin' every weekend."

She nodded once more.

"Okay, good. What's yer name?"

"Mia."

"Alright, Mia, ya got any experience working in a bar?"

"Yes." She replied, after a short while. There was a silence.

"Okay, then don't just sit there, tell me more!"

Oh no, not twice in less than one day. First Dante, now this loon called Ernie. Why was everyone so interested in finding out about her history? She could try making it up...but most of her memories were just her being locked up in a tank. What else did she have? What else was before all that...? Mia didn't exactly like having to remember. Everything was so fuzzy but she forced herself to, and she finally said, "Before I...when...when I was..."

"What? WHAT? Spit it out! I don't have all fuckin' day!"

"...I worked in my father's tavern." She muttered, "I was helping out...I was working with my best friend and my...my...unghh..." She stopped, having to clutch at her head. It was aching and throbbing painfully, just like back in the shop. Her mind was burning again. Flashes of white obscured her vision and she squeezed her eyes shut. All she could focus on was the pain.

"Tavern? What the fuck? They still have those old joints around?" The owner seemed unaware to her violent headache.

Her head gradually lessened to a dull pain as soon as she forced herself to stop remembering. Ahh, much better. She hoped Ernie would not ask her about her past again.

"Alright, fine, so ya worked in a bar. When can ya start?"

She sat back upright, straightening herself. "I can start tonight."

"Okay, good. Come tonight and if ya do good, you can come again to help out." He said and Mia smiled, but when he gazed at her from head to toe in a manner that made her feel slightly uncomfortable, she dropped her smile. "We open at seven but come here at six. Louis will show ya what to do and give ya yer uniform. Eh...hm, ya look like a small to me. What's yer bust size?"

"...Oh, um...I...er..."

"Never mind, I'll get the girls to help ya. And put some more make up on cos ya look like a ghost! Here, take this form, fill it in and hand it back when ya come in tonight." Ernie then proceeded to hand her a piece of paper attached to a clipboard with a pen. The form had the logo of the Love Planet at the top followed by rows of empty boxes.

"Really? You'll...you'll hire me?" She took the form off him and held it close to her.

"Yer pretty enough," Ernie muttered, before he clasped his hands together, smirking, "...That's all we need...Pretty gals...A reason for the men to keep comin' and comin'."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The following evening, the doors to Devil May Cry opened again and Lady came storming in to see Dante and Mia facing each other in heated argument.

Lady hadn't really seen Dante angry. He had always remained aloof and in any situation, he generally brushed off with a grin or a sarcastic remark. Even when he cried he blamed it on the rain. However, she could tell Dante was rather irritated at the precise moment. At least she knew that Dante was in fact, capable of being angry every once in a while. "I told you not to go to that dingy hellhole and you still went!"

"I just wanted to help!" Mia wasn't shouting as loudly as he was, "It doesn't matter anyway because they hired me!"

"Why the hell would they hire you?!"

"Why not?!"

Lady stared as the argument continued. They seemed oblivious to her presence.

Eventually, Mia glanced at the clock and gasped. "Now I'm fifteen minutes late thanks to you!" She screamed, before she turned away from him, stomped to the doors and put on the Love Planet's signature bunny ear headband over her head. "Hello, Lady. Excuse me, but I'm going to work."

"...See ya." She watched the mermaid leave the shop, "Did I hear right? A demon got a job?"

Dante averted his gaze to her and frowned. "What do you want?"

"What was that all about? A Lover's Spat?"

"Shut up..."

Lady followed him as he moved to his seat and plopped down, frowning. "Hmm, trouble in paradise? I guess everything isn't going as 'happily ever after' as you thought, huh?"

"Leave me alone."

"Stop moping and get your ass into gear. I couldn't find the demon responsible, but there's a connection." She said; even though Dante wasn't looking at her, she knew he was still listening, "The men-the victims- they're all customers of the Love Planet. And they're always attacked at night. Get it?"

There was a slight silence, until Dante grunted. "Great. Just great." He got up off his chair and went to the rack to grab his coat and sword whilst Lady sauntered to the entrance.

"Don't be like that; it's your favourite place." She teased, as Dante collected the rest of his weapons. "Besides, maybe a little demon hunt can take your mind off her." She said, and she opened the doors to the shop. Turning to him, she added, "After you."


	11. The Love Planet

Hey everyone, I wanna say thanks to KuroSeiRyuu for reviewing :3 And also thanks to those who favourited/alerted this fic. I was thinking of writing a Vergil x OC fic too but I don't know which Vergil to base it on...DmC Vergil or DMC 3 Vergil? O.O Anyway, I wanted to update today because this chapter was so much fun to write :33

ps this chapter contains some smut.

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

The Love Planet was alive.

It was night-time and finally, the doors were opened and the regular patrons came pouring in, wanting to get drunk and dirty. Dance music and irrefutable debauchery filled the atmosphere. Louis, at the bar, inwardly held his silent disgust and continued to work as the women danced around and slid up and down the poles and paused in exotic positions while the men ogled and cheered and stuffed their hard-earned cash down the women's revealing lingerie.

His eyes strayed to the newest waitress, Mia, who clearly looked uncomfortable in her 'uniform'. The uniform was silky lingerie; some girls paraded around in a pair of bra and panties whilst the more conservative ones decided to wear babydolls or corsets. Fishnet tights were preferred but according to Ernie, normal see-through stockings and/or suspenders were allowed too.

Since she was new, her additional presence was not ignored. Many of the men picked on her and tried talking to her, but she didn't respond in the way they liked, often incurring their wrath. Louis had to step in and help, while the other waitresses moaned and gossiped about her behind her back.

"What's wrong with her? She can't even carry a plate and she growls at all the customers. If she doesn't like working here, she should hit the road!" sneered one of the girls, glaring at Mia as she returned to the counter with a tray full of empty glasses. "I can't believe Ernie hired her on the spot like that. Just because she's pretty doesn't mean anything."

"Jess, stop being so jelly and take this beer to table number three." said another waitress, patting her on the back.

"Stop defending her. That little slut doesn't deserve it, Haley." hissed the waitress named Jess, before she sensually sashayed with a waggle of her hips over to the table she been had instructed to serve.

A few moments later and the doors opened and a familiar man with silver hair came strolling inside, glancing around the place with an eager grin. Usually this man stuck out like a sore thumb with his bright red coat and sleek, silver hair but under the club's flashing lights which drowned out most color, he blended in rather easily. Immediately, he was bombarded by the waitresses who were all fawning over him, cooing and giggling.

"Dante!"

"Oooh, it's Dante!"

"Dante, you haven't been here for A-G-E-S! I missed you..."

He held his hands up in response to all the adoration aimed at him, "Ladies, please...Lemme through, alright? I'm looking for someone-"

"Ooh, me!" One of the girls was shrieking. It was Jess. Yet Dante brushed her aside and marched into the bar without further ado, leaving a downright rejected and lonely, pouting waitress.

The silver-haired man who was the target of many of the waitresses here ambled towards the bar and sat down on an empty bar stool away from the drunk, rowdy customers. "Hey, Louis." He greeted the bartender warmly.

"Hey, Dante." replied Louis.

Dante was a frequent customer ever since he was in his early twenties, at least that was what Ernie had told him. Louis only joined the Love Planet a couple of years back but he'd become rather good friends with the devil hunter. He became close enough to know what kind of work Dante did and to see Dante being the central attention of all the waitresses every time he came, and eventually he became a good enough friend of him to call for a cab every time he got too roaring drunk that he couldn't even get off the floor. Beside all that, he couldn't help but feel slightly envious of the man and his manly charm and prowess over the women.

"Is it just you today?" Louis glanced around anxiously before asking, "Um...Is Lady with ya too?"

Dante grinned at him. "Yeah, she'll be comin' in a sec." He replied, and immediately Louis began to tidy himself up in a bid to look presentable. He adjusted his bowtie and his arm cuffs before smoothing down at his hair. Ever since Dante introduced Lady to Louis during one mission, he had become smitten with her. Too bad she had no interest in bartenders. "How's business anyway?"

Louis nodded, "It's been great. Business has rocketed ever since Renata and Clio came."

"Hm?" Dante looked up and saw the posters on the wall, which were of two women he didn't recognise. "Who are they? They're hot. I've never seen them before. Are they new?"

"Yeah, Renata and Clio joined last month. They're the most popular girls here. Customers always come to hear them sing."

"Renata and Clio, huh?" Dante murmured under his breath. "What kind of songs do they sing?"

Louis opened his mouth to speak but then stopped when he found that he actually wasn't sure. He just knew that they sang, and after they had finished singing, the crowd would go wild. "They sing...well...they sing songs, obviously-and they...actually, whenever they sing I don't...Huh, now that you mention it, Dante, I don't quite remember."

"That's ridiculous. How can you not remember what kind of songs they sing? You mean they sing and you don't even listen to them?"

"What? No, I do! It's just...I...er...at the end of their songs, I just know they've sung but I don't quite remember what song it was." Louis thought for a little longer, "Hey...you don't think..."

"Keep your mouth shut. We're not sure yet. But these girls...Renata and Clio...They wouldn't mind if I pay them a quick visit, would they?"

Louis sighed as Dante grinned at him; the bartender had often wished he was as cocky and popular as Dante but deep inside, he knew he didn't really have it within him and for some reason, the girls didn't find him appealing at all. "Their room is just down the corridor through that door." He gestured to one of the doors near the stage which was guarded by a fierce-looking security man. "So, what'll it be anyway? The usual?"

"Yep," He replied, "Hit me."

Louis ducked under the counter to find the ingredients to Dante's regular order, picking up a new glass as well as his small fruit knife. He returned to the counter only to see that his fruit tub was empty and looking up, he tried to catch the attention only to see that they were all preoccupied except from the new waitress who was picking up empty glasses off a table. He called out, "Mia, I'm outta limes, can you go to the store room and get some for me?"

Dante threw his glance over his shoulder. "Mia?"

"Yeah, we hired a new waitress." Louis said, as Mia began to return to the bar, "Don't even think about it, Dante, she's a nice girl and-"

"What are you doing here?"

Louis stopped as soon as the new waitress had walked up to stand behind Dante with her tray of empty glasses; he swivelled round in his seat, looked at her from head to toe and wolf whistled, grinning with appreciation. "Hey, that's a nice set of threads you got there." He reached behind and hooked a finger on the strap of her panties and pulled back, then let go, making it snap over her skin. She gasped, her cheeks going pink. "You should wear it when we're in bed next time."

Mia frowned and when he tried to reach for her bunny ears, she angrily swatted his hand away. She was also wearing a chemise, which all the new, shy waitresses wore. "Rule number one: customers can look but cannot touch."

"You guys know each other?" Louis asked tiredly. This was not a surprise.

"Unfortunately, yes." She replied coldly. Without another word, she put down the tray, took the empty container from Louis and sauntered towards the direction of the storeroom. Louis sighed again as he watched. Even the new waitress was not safe from Dante's clutches. He'd already become acquaintances with her beforehand. Louis should've known better.

Dante grunted. "Mi, wait."

As she made her way towards the direction of the storeroom with the empty container, she passed a table filled with drunken men, and one of the men had spotted her. Elbowing his other drunken mate, he let out a high-pitched wolf whistle at her, "Check out the new piece of ass, hehe! I'd sure like to tap that!" He reached over and grabbed Mia by the arm as she passed him.

She tried to pull herself free. "Let go-"

However, the man raised his arm with the intention to spank her on the rear-and suddenly Dante was behind her, protecting her, before the hand could reach her-and the hand landed on **his** backside. The bar fell into silence immediately as the loud SLAP! resonated above the thrashing music. Mia, Louis and the other waitresses had gasped and temporarily stopped in their tracks, watching with bulging eyes.

"Sorry pal, but I don't roll that way. I dig chicks only." Dante had said, eyeing the man from the bottom of his eyes who pulled his arm away with a horrified squeal. "Be a real sweetheart and let go of her, alright?"

"Hey, I saw her first." The drunk was now slurring, positively reeking and smelling of sweat, alcohol and cigarettes; he let go of Mia and pulled himself off his seat, swaying as he moved up to stand. His friends were now staring keenly at the spectacle. He was not as tall as Dante and obviously a lot smaller but he eyed Dante beadily, clearly too intoxicated to notice that he was no match for the devil hunter as he continued to spit out, "You get back in line." While he was garbling, he was prodding at Dante's chest with a stubborn finger irately, "This girl's ass belongs ta meh. Dontcha know who you're messin' with, pretty boy? I'm the don. Yeah, you heard right. THE DON."

Dante raised an eyebrow while the rest of the men in the table stood up next; he ushered Mia behind him quietly. The waitresses could do nothing except stare but Louis was now stepping out of the bar, opening the small door and ducking under the counter. "Wait-"

"Uh, Dante...?" Mia began, but he merely winked at her.

"It's cool, I got it under control."

Louis, rolling up his sleeves and mustering his courage, casually made his way towards them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop! Stop it, guys." He arrived in between Dante and the group of men just in time, "Let's not get hasty here-"

"Shaddup!" The drunk man pushed him aside and he went stumbling.

Mia gasped, and the other waitresses were running to him. "Lulu! Are you alright?"

"Oh my god, Lou!" screeched one of the girls.

"Louis, noooo!"

"Someone, like, totally call the police and stop these guys!" screamed another waitress. It was Jess.

"Girls, calm down, I'm fine," Louis replied. "Everything's okay, let security handle it." The girls were helping him up and when the inevitable brawl began, they hastily moved away and the big burly security men of the Love Planet were now leaving their posts and rushing into the scene, slamming their curled knucklebuster-clad fists into their palms at the ready.

The bar was a mess; in the middle, Dante was in a three-way scuffle with the men and the security staff. The group of drunks were all ganging up on him, but Dante dodged the easy blows and the security staff had to pull them off the devil hunter as they lunged at him. Finally, the security men gained the upper hand and were rounding up the drunkards; a lot of blows were being exchanged, teeth were knocked out of people's jaws, eyes were being bruised, and blood was spewing from nostrils. Mia had rushed to Dante's side as soon as the security members rounded up the drunks.

She inspected him to see that he had a slight nick on his jaw but aside from that, nothing else. He was fine. She breathed a sigh of relief as he grinned at her, "Hey, baby."

"You scared me!" She exclaimed, before she threw her arms around him. "What were you thinking?!"

"I couldn't let that guy tap your ass." He replied, and she gave him a tired, but appreciative gaze. She smiled at him and he nuzzled her neck, before leaning closer to her and their lips almost touched until another voice entered the fray.

"What the fuck is going on?! What does it take for a guy to get a fuckin' nap around here!?" Everyone turned to see Ernie at the door to the fire exit that would lead to his office dressed in a leopard-print dressing gown with a red, pudding-shaped, fez hat atop his head complete with gold tassel, "Get those drunken pieces of shit outta my club!"

"Yes, sir." said the security men, and they were hauling the drunks to the exit.

The seething man finally settled his eyes on Dante in the corner with Mia before taking a deep drag from his tobacco pipe, "Oh, well, look what the cat dragged in! Why am I not surprised to see ya here, Dante? Yer always muckin' up ma business by stirrin' up a fight some way or another...if it's not about a girl, it's about some other girl. Well, not tonight! Get outta my club. Yer banished!" Without another word, Ernie was returning to his office and the rest of the Love Planet continued the way as it was before the brawl.

Dante stood up, brushing at his coat and wiping the blood off his lips. "Yeah, well, this party's a real let down anyway." He muttered, with a jovial smile on his lips.

Mia watched him shuffle towards the exit and she followed him outside where the devil hunter stopped to stand beside a lamppost. "Are you hurt?"

"Nah."

She stood in front of him and tried to check him again but he merely grabbed her hands and brought her close to him before wrapping his arms around her. "Dante?"

"Babe, I know you want to help me and do something useful, but I need you to get out of here right now. There's a stench of a demon here." Dante said, "And it's attacking men in the middle of the night."

"Here?"

"Yeah." He spun her around so she was now squished between himself and the lamppost, her back touching the cool metal. She stared up at him with her bottle green eyes and he put a hand to her face before he wrapped his arms around her again. She didn't protest, letting him hold her and he kissed her on the forehead. A while later and she folded her arms around him.

"I knew it; no matter what I do you can't stay mad at me." He murmured, before he pecked her on top of the head.

"Is this what it's all about? Of course not, I'll never stay mad at you." She muttered, and he held her even closer to him.

"Get your things and meet me by the back door, alright?" He pulled away and leaned down to kiss her. She nodded as their lips met, although he only kissed her lightly on the lips before pulling away.

They stared at each other for a couple of more seconds before he moved forwards again for another kiss. And another.

Before he knew it, his arms were wrapped around the small of her back tightly and she was holding him too, their lips pressed against each other tightly. He pulled back and began showering her with kisses over her cheeks, her forehead, her eyelids, her temples and jaw; she was eagerly responding to him in the same manner, moving her hands to rest on the back of his neck whilst he let his hands roam over the exposed flesh of her body which the 'uniform' of the Love Planet did not cover.

It really wasn't helping that she was wearing the skimpy attire of the Love Planet. She seemed to be aware of that all too well because he was growing hard against her, and he moved away from her face to concentrate on her neck, kissing and sucking at her skin. She leaned her head back, letting go of his neck with one hand to weave through his hair. When he began thrusting his hips against her despite the fact that they were still clothed, it was beginning to return to her. She remembered how big he really was...how powerful he was when he would slam inside her, how he always hit the right spot... Now it felt like she had no control over this as Dante's hands trailed over her body before grasping at her buttocks, pushing her hips into him whenever he bucked against her.

However, the underlying goal of their mission and his presence in the Love Planet came rushing to his mind and he pulled away, lifting himself off her. "...I guess we're good."

She nodded, panting.

"I need to meet Lady, and you need to go."

"Alright. I'll go get my stuff."

They split up; Dante went to join Lady, who should've managed to sneak into the club through the back entrance, and Mia was on her way to the waitress' changing room when she saw a man coming out from one of the rooms of the corridor. It was the dressing room of the two most popular escorts Ernie had told her about previously, Renata and Clio.

"Hey, you there," The man called to her but he was smiling at her in this manner that made her uncomfortable, "I need some drinks to be brought in; will you take my order?"

She thought all drink orders had to be made at the bar, but nevertheless, she nodded as she walked up to him. "Okay, I'll take-" She paused, and turned to the door he had come from. She had sensed something. Inside the room, she saw two women who had been fixing each other's hair until they caught sight of her. One was blonde, and the other had black hair. She recognised their faces from the posters on the wall.

_Renata and Clio...?_

They were much more beautiful in real life. They were...goddess like. They were dressed in elaborate, seafoam-colored long-flowing dresses and she was aware that they were about to go onto stage and perform. These women didn't even seem to have a trace of any make up yet they looked flawless. They were natural yet so elegant and regal. Mia couldn't help but stare and deep inside, she felt inferior to these women. They couldn't be human. They seemed too good to be true. No, they weren't human. Mia knew immediately. The two women rose steadily from their seats, with their thin but full lips stretching in a twisted smile.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" muttered the blonde. Her voice complimented her looks; it was husky but seductive. Mia couldn't help but get drawn in herself. "Leon, dear? Can you give us a moment?"

"Sure..." The man stepped out without further ado. Mia saw that his eyes had a strange glassy hue. He had been hypnotised...

"You." said the blonde, pointing at Mia. "...Come inside."

Mia did nothing except stare.

"I said 'come inside'. Do not make me repeat myself again."

Mia stepped inside the room abruptly. The door was shut behind her and the women were standing in front of her. Mia was not even as tall as they were. As the women began to inspect her keenly, reaching out and touching her hair and her face, she backed away. "What do you want?" Mia said, although she didn't sound as confident as she should have. She had wavered, her voice struggling.

"Oh my, you can't sing, can you? Not with that weak, underdeveloped voice of yours." The blonde said, whilst the darker haired one giggled. "That's a shame."

"What do you mean?"

The women giggled to each other again and decided to ignore her question. "I certainly didn't think I'd see another one here."

"You two are..."

The women nodded in unison. "Yes, that's right. You knew it the moment you saw us, didn't you?" said the blonde, and Mia remained quiet; the two women before her moved to stand on her left and right respectively. "What's your name?"

"...Mia."

"How sweet. What a cute name for a cute little Siren. You look positively afraid of us." The blonde was teasing, "...What's the matter, _sister_?"

"Why did you say 'Siren'?"

The two women glanced at each other for a brief moment, then the blonde focused on Mia once again. "Because that's what we are, Mia." said the blonde, who seemed to be doing all the talking for now, "And it's what you are, too. We're all Sirens. My name is Renata. This is Clio."

"Hi," greeted the quieter one called Clio.

_Sirens_. Renata had called themselves Sirens, not mermaids. Mia asked, "Are you two the most popular escorts in the Love Planet?"

"Of course." said Renata; she sounded extremely proud. She had every reason to be; the woman was downright gorgeous. Mia felt like nothing compared to her. "We have our looks...our charm...we even have our voice...The men here are so pathetic, they just fall right under our spell once we open our mouths and they throw themselves at us, falling into our laps one by one like dominoes. It's flattering, really."

As they circled her once more, Mia instinctively shrunk backwards. They noticed her meek manner and Renata was signalling to Clio with a smile playing on her lips. "You are so cute, so cute and baby-faced and innocent. So, who is the man you're seducing?"

"What?"

"I certainly doubt you inflicted that on yourself." Renata was gesturing to her neck and Mia knew that she was talking about the lovebite Dante gave her not too long ago. "Does he love you? And do you love him?"

"That's none of your business!" Mia snapped before she could help herself, and she realized her mistake. Renata and Clio giggled to each other again.

"Ooh dear, we've touched a nerve. It's best not to get too attached to mortals, baby sister. The ocean will beckon to you and you will have to return...You won't be like this forever, Mia. We only trade our tails in favor of legs to find potential mates, after all."

_...A mate?_ Mia felt her jaw slowly drop open to an extent. How come she knew nothing about this? Was that the real reason why she had legs? _We come up onto dry land to look for mates? _

"What are you doing in a place like this anyway? It's for adults only. It's very dangerous, and the people here aren't a very friendly bunch... if you're not careful, girls like us will eat you up..." Renata said, before she snapped her jaws, and Mia shuddered, understanding that she meant it quite literally.

"I...I got a job here."

The two women's expressions clouded immediately. "Oh." muttered Renata, "Well, this is our territory, Mia. We came here first. It's nice knowing you, but we have a purpose to serve and you should leave. Don't stick your tail where it doesn't belong."

"What purpose?"

"The Siren Queen, of course. What's the matter with you? You're one of us but you seem...perplexed."

It just got worse and worse. _Siren... Queen?_ There was a QUEEN? A Queen of all mermaids...no, Sirens, who probably had them under her rule and control? She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And... you're the ones responsible for those murders?"

There was a slight silence, before Renata turned to Clio, who decided to speak, "Well, while we're looking for appropriate mates, we also need to eat something, don't we?" Compared to Renata, Clio held a more mature tone in her voice, but she was still very graceful and stunning, "And the Love Planet is teeming with all sorts of stupid, worthless, pig-headed men. Since they're not suitable mates, they can at least be of some use to us and become nutrition instead."

Mia swallowed down, "T-that's..."

"You look shocked, baby sister."

She opened her mouth to speak, but then she remembered very well that Dante and Lady were on the case of the man-eaters. Then she remembered what had happened at Laurent's mansion where Dante had killed a mermaid without even batting an eyelid. Conflicted and confused, she squeezed her eyes shut and before she could control herself, the words were quickly uttered out from her mouth: "There are devil hunters after you. You should return to the ocean."

That stunned the Sirens for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"They're treating the murders as suspicious and they're investigating." Mia said hurriedly, although she really hated herself for it. _I'm sorry, Dante. I really am... _"They're in the club right now. Two of them. One of them is the Son of Sparda."

Renata and Clio turned to each other and back to Mia, before Renata placed a delicate hand on her shoulder. "How do you know this?" She said, "And why should we trust you?"

"J-Just trust me." Mia stuttered out, "I...I've seen one of us getting killed. I don't want it happening again."

There was a slight silence, until Renata finally said, "Why, thank you, Mia. Thanks for looking out for us." It seemed she had decided to trust Mia, to her relief.

"What should we do, Renata?" Clio asked; she was beginning to sound worried, "We're surrounded. We can't leave now."

However, Renata was smiling at Mia. "Yes, we can. All we need is a distraction. Perhaps you can help us out again, Mia..."

**xxxxxxxxx**

The fire alarm went off.

"What the fuck is goin' on now?!" Ernie was screaming as he burst into the lounge of the Love Planet, but he was greeted with the sight of sprinklers throwing water all over his customers and the girls. "Damn ittttt! Someone call the fuckin' fire brigade!"

"Already on it, sir." Louis said, blinking through water-battered eyelashes as he escorted Jess and the other waitresses outside; they were wailing with soaking wet lingerie clinging to their forms as they bee-lined out of the establishment.

Meanwhile, Mia weaved through the throng of screaming people to see Dante and Lady on the bar floor. Dante spotted her and was at her side in seconds. "You okay?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"You're soaked." He said, before he took off his coat and draped it around her shivering body.

Lady was pacing, restless. "Someone set off the fire alarm. Everyone's being evacuated." She growled, before she caught the sight of two figures slinking away from the crowd towards the other exit. Her eyes narrowed and immediately, she was on the case, storming back further into the club and pushing through the crowd.

"Hey, where ya going?" Dante called, while Mia was staring wide-eyed as the two figures-which turned out to be Renata and Clio-began to quicken their pace.

"Aren't you coming?" Lady yelled over her shoulder.

"Yeah, hold on." Dante turned to Mia and kissed her on the forehead, "Go back to the shop. Don't wait for me, babe."

"Dante-"

But he was already gone... Mia wondered what was the best course of action... If she did not follow, then that meant she had nothing to do with the Sirens...and she would let them be hunted and killed by Dante and Lady.

_I'm not like them_, she graciously reminded herself. _They are man-eaters...they show no remorse... and I want nothing to do with them. I've warned them. That's the least I can do...it's enough. It's up to them if they survive._..


	12. Lucy Pendleton

Thanks for the review! You know who you are by now ;)

There was meant to be a lemon in one of the previous chapter but I changed it so there is a lemon happening here although lemons don't exactly contribute to the story. It's pretty short and if you don't wanna read, you can always jump down to the next line break.

I don't think I'll have Dante go into DT mode any time soon in this fic. The demons I've written about aren't particular strong demons; for instance, Mia is not as strong compared to the other Sirens but in general, the Sirens are 'lesser demons'.

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

Dante came back two hours later.

Mia had been waiting for him despite being told not to, and she was perched on the edge of the sofa, engrossed with the TV that had been switched to a channel showing a late horror movie. She leapt out of her seat when a towering, tall figure burst through the doors of Devil May Cry before she threw her glance to the TV screen where a massive, terrifying giant was seen terrorising a mob of humans wielding pitchforks and torches...then she looked at the figure at the doorway again but breathed a sigh of relief when she realised it was none other than Dante.

"You're back." She squeaked.

"...Thought I told you not to wait for me." He grunted as he shut the doors behind him and trudged towards the sofa. He reached behind his back, gripping his twin pistols and placed them on the desk as he passed. Rebellion was removed off the holster on his back and placed near his guns too. Dante then made his way towards the sofa where she was and she stood up as though welcoming his return.

"You're covered in blood." She stated, as he stopped beside her and using both hands on her shoulders, he gently sat her down before dropping onto the couch himself. He snuggled into her embrace, kicking off his boots and lifting his legs up to lie over the length of the sofa. She cradled his head in her lap, reaching down to kiss his forehead, brushing some hair from his eyes.

He stretched slightly before his shoulders sagged. This was very comfortable. Mia had the most snuggly lap a man could ever hope for in a woman. He could just fall asleep right now. "This place looks great. Were you tidying up?"

She had tidied up this morning but did not say anything about it. Instead, she said, "What happened? How did it go?"

Dante could feel her fingers raking over his jaw and chin before weaving into his hair and he felt relaxed and at ease. "...Two demons. Female. Killed one. Injured the other."

He didn't see her expression crumble. They'd killed one and managed to injure another. Was it Renata or Clio? It didn't matter. Mia felt sick to the stomach. "What happened to the other one?"

"Dunno." He replied, "Mm. Tired. Muscles achy. Sleepy." She felt him increase his grip around her and she swallowed down.

"...Oh dear, you're so tired you can't even form complete sentences." She croaked out. He grinned, then closed his eyes and buried his face further into her lap. She was unresponsive for a few moments until she realised Dante hadn't moved from his spot. "You should at least take a shower."

He opened one eye as she inspected his blood-stained shirt. "Did _you_ shower?"

"Yes."

"Wanna take another one?" He asked, "With me?"

Mia hesitated and he thought she would snub him but then she nodded. His grin widened; he jumped out of her arms and stood. She realised he wasn't as tired as he said he was when he grabbed her hand and led her upstairs towards the direction of the bathroom.

In the shower, he stripped her of her clothes before stripping himself and he had adjusted the water to the appropriate temperature that she was comfortable with (not too hot yet not too cold), but she seemed distracted, letting him do what he wanted. However, she was running her hands all over his body whilst he trailed kisses over her wet skin. This time, he would make sure they would actually do something instead of merely stand under the water and talk. He was already hot and needy for her and he lifted her legs to wrap around his waist; he didn't know how wet she was for him but he had the feeling she was ready and he made sure she had her grip on him before he proceeded to back her against the bathroom wall. When he met her gaze, her eyes appeared distant and unfocused.

"You've got that look on your face again." He pointed out.

"What look?"

"The one where it means that something is bothering you."

Mia blinked slowly and then the life in her eyes slowly began to seep back in. "Sorry, it's just been a long day." She put a hand over his cheek, "But I'm glad you're back."

"You were lonely, huh?" He muttered, "You wanna do this?"

She nodded and buried her face into his neck, closing her eyes; he hesitated but when she tightened her grip on him as though persuading him to continue, he shifted himself and entered her. She moaned lightly as he stretched her and she settled herself once she was comfortable with him. They remained locked in that position for a few seconds until Dante moved.

The first thrust sent her sliding up the bathroom wall and she gasped, clinging onto him by the shoulders. Urged by the need to release, he pounded into her again and she moaned breathily, this time with pleasure. When he began thrusting into her in a quick, unforgiving pace, he listened to her cry out loudly and she threw her head back as much as possible as he plunged viciously into her again and again; he wanted to wring many more desperate little moans like this out of her, knowing that he was the one reducing her like this.

She breathed out his name; all she was capable of doing was taking his thrusts as they came and she tried to focus on his roaming lips on her face, neck and body and the feel of his length penetrating her over and over again. He moved his hands from her rear to loop under the bend of her knees since she was already keeping herself hoisted up with her arms around his neck and their bodies pressed together closer than imagined, their wet flesh sliding and slapping against each other messily. She gasped as the new angle made the pleasure even more intense than before and he slammed into her harder, grunting with each thrust he subjected her to.

When she felt a sharp nip on her skin, she opened her eyes and threw her glance down to see that he was biting her on the neck. She didn't think much of this and as he grinded into her, she clutched onto his shoulders, gripping at his back where she could feel his muscles going tense and rigid. She pressed her lips against the side of his face, moaning into his ear. The pressure in her lower body began to build up from his working thrusts, her body shuddered as the tremors took over and she was quivering in his grip.

His pace gradually lessened, his thrusts becoming sloppy and with a fierce grunt, he came inside her in long, draining spurts, leaving a crawly mess down her legs which were quickly washed away from the water. His grip loosened on her and he buried his nose into her wet hair. He had the urge to take her again. Maybe not in the shower.

A few seconds later and she murmured, "Dante?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just mark me?"

He inspected the bite mark he'd inflicted on her. "...Yeah, I just...hm." It was large and an angry red in color, a throbbing, painful-looking mark on her otherwise fragile, spotless porcelain skin. He'd bitten his lovers before but those were playful, loving hickeys and they were just nibbles anyway...this one was just plain huge...

"Only mates mark each other." She muttered quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. He snaked his arms around her and moved to sit down on the grubby bathroom floor with her propped upright in his lap. "What does this mean?"

He gave a gentle shrug, "You mean a lot to me."

Mia wondered if Dante was trying to confess something to her. Even though she knew he was always a smooth-talking, cocky and slightly arrogant demon-killing mean machine who seemed to enjoy romancing ladies, she thought he had actually fought for words there. She couldn't help but smile.

Dante meant a lot to her too.

**xxxxxxxxx**

Ever since the Love Planet incident, not a single murder had occurred and Mia was immensely pleased with herself. She'd dealt with this quietly but quickly; hopefully the still-living Siren, either Renata or Clio, had heeded her warning and had left the city.

The next day, she jovially made her way to the market that was taking place in the town square with the Love Planet's paycheck in her pockets. Ernie had paid her quickly and told her he would give her a phonecall should he ever need help at the Love Planet again. In other words, she had the feeling that she had performed poorly during that shift and Ernie had thought she was more trouble than she was worth. At least she tried. She had earned a decent amount from the shift, and from 'tips' (which she learned was the excessive money stuffed into the bra and panties of the dancers by the male audience) were more than enough.

And the first thing she wanted to do was buy something for Dante.

The market was just several blocks away from the shop and she could see an abundance of market stalls selling various goods, ranging from exotic food, dreamcatchers and woodwork, chocolate, metal goods and small gadgets (which attracted her curiosity and attention for a long while) and finally-she spotted a flower stall with a vast array of beautiful, multicolored flowers on display which immediately drew her attention. She was too busy marvelling at the display until she collided with someone. There was a loud 'oof' and the sounds of paper flapping; she had bumped into another shopper who had been carrying an abundance of documents and brown paper bags in her hands. Groceries went rolling in all possible directions on the ground.

"No, no, nooo!" The shopper- a girl in an old-fashioned red cardigan and denims with a vintage satchel- was wailing before she bent down to collect all her papers and the rest of her belongings. Unfortunately the papers caught in the wind were already floating away out of reach.

"I'm so sorry." Mia said quickly, before she too crouched down to help the poor girl. She managed to grab some papers and realised they were reports of some kind.

The girl was chortling haplessly at herself, "It's alright, this is what you get when you try to read and walk at the same ti-"

Mia was still gathering the rest of the runaway groceries, but when the girl did not finish her sentence, she looked up. Mia dropped the items in shock. The girl was staring back at her with an equally stunned and astounded expression...This girl...she had dark brown hair, the same chestnut brown shade as hers...and she had green eyes...she had the same heart-shaped face as Mia's too, the same nose, the same arch of the eyebrows...this could not be, the girl's features were exactly the same as hers. It was exactly like looking into a mirror.

"You-" Mia began, and the look-alike plunged her hand into her pockets and pulled out a pair of glasses which she rammed over the bridge of her nose, pushing them up further over her eyes.

"-Look just like me." finished the girl. However, she was suddenly beaming while Mia remained staring, dumbstruck, "Wait! I think I know what's going on!" The girl was hooting giddily all of a sudden.

"...Huh?" Mia squeaked out.

"I know you!" The girl was now stuffing her papers into her opened satchel bag, adjusting her spectacles before peering at Mia again. "My goodness...the likeness is uncanny."

Her mind was buzzing, alive with a dozen of questions. "...What?" Mia asked dazedly. She had no idea what was going on.

She took Mia's hand and shook it vigorously. "My name is Lucy. Lucy Pendleton. I can't believe this is really happening!" As Mia continued to look at her, confused, the girl began flapping her hands around in glee. "This is so exciting! I knew it! I thought I saw you coming out from that weirdo shop called _Devil May Cry_ but I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me-but you're actually here, in front of me, and you're REAL!" Lucy was exclaiming, almost screaming to the heavens with joy. "Oh this is SO exciting!"

Mia's eyes narrowed abruptly. Real? This girl must know what she truly was. "I'm sorry, I really have no idea what you're-"

But the girl called Lucy was grabbing at her hand, "W-wait! Please...I think I know who you are. A-and I know this must sound weird, but you need to hear me out; would you like to have a coffee with me?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

She had coffee with Lucy.

It wasn't what she wanted to do because she thought this Lucy was a downright raving lunatic, but then Lucy had said something and it struck a cord within her; inevitable, Mia was ensnared. They had conversed for almost two to three hours by now and Mia asked Lucy what time it was before the girl checked her wristwatch and told her it was almost five in the evening; Dante would probably be looking for her, wondering where she had gone.

Yet Lucy was still chatting vivaciously to her, with all her papers and photos and pictures spread in front of her on the table which she showed to Mia cheerfully. "Yeah, and everyone was talking about it and according to my research, it went on and on for weeks and there were so many rumours going around, but they just couldn't find you-"

"...I get it." Mia played around with the handle of her mug of hot chocolate which Lucy had ordered for her; she'd managed to drink half of it so far, "Thank you for telling me all this, Lucy...but it happened such a long time ago."

"Y-yes, I know, but I thought it might make you feel better." Lucy said, "I mean, everyone thought you were either kidnapped or-or..."

"No, I went willingly with them."

"Oh, I see..." Lucy replied glumly, "Um, Mia...thanks for sharing this with me."

Mia smiled at her dryly. "It's fine. It doesn't matter to me now, Lucy. I'm different and I have something else that I really care about." She replied, as a certain white haired devil hunter popped up into mind and she found herself smiling until- "Oh! I should be getting back. Dante must be worried."

"Dante?"

Mia nodded and abruptly sat up in her seat. "Sorry Lucy, I'll have to leave now. Thank you for the hot chocolate."

"You're welcome. I'd like to go out for coffee with you again if you'd like. How will I find you?"

"Find me at Devil May Cry."

"Okay." Lucy then handed her a card next which had her address and a phone number on it, "Here's my contact details; if you ever need my help...or if you ever wanna chat, don't hesitate to call."

"Thank you."

"Um, Mia?"

"Yes, Lucy?"

The girl shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "I hope you don't mind me asking this...and I'm really sorry if this totally turns out wrong...but since you were...well, _you know_...but obviously you're still here and you haven't changed the slightest...What exactly _**are**_ you?"

"...I have changed, Lucy." Mia said, "I'm a demon now."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Later.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Hey."

She looked up to see Dante peering at her from his spot behind the sofa. She had been sitting cross-legged, her back against the armrest, taking up one space of the settee. "Hey." She replied, smiling to herself.

"You look happy." He commented.

"Mm-hmm."

"Yeah, of course you're happy, you're with me." He added, with a mischievous smirk on his handsome features, and she reached over and put her hand over his cheek affectionately, "What's that you got anyway? Can I see?"

"Sure. Come over here and I'll show you."

He hopped over the top of the couch at her invitation and slid down onto the seat, then manoeuvred himself behind her so his back was now against the armrest and Mia had her back to his chest. He scooped her into his arms and she sunk into his lap, stretching her legs out to rest over his. In her palms, there was a shining object which she had been shielding from his view but then she slowly unfurled her clenched fingers and a rounded, white spherical shape floated out and hovered in front of them.

"I've seen that before," Dante muttered as he rested his chin atop her head, "It's a White Orb. What's it doing here?"

Mia watched the orb slowly spin around in a three hundred and sixty degree angle. "It contains my essence." She replied, "It keeps me alive."

"Huh, I know that." He said, "White Orbs. A magic white stone of crystallized demon spirit. It revitalizes lost magic power."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment and the soft white glow strengthened, illuminating her face. She inhaled some of the shining light deeply and he could see that she was rejuvenating herself using the orb. Opening one eye, she muttered, "Did you learn that off by heart somewhere?"

Holding her close to him, Dante watched the White Orb and its distorted face continue to twirl around. "Yep. Demon hunters gotta do their research. Look how shiny it is, Mi."

She turned to him, her expression scrunching up. "The face... it looks like it's in so much pain."

Following that statement was a silence until Dante said, "Now that you mention it, how come yours looks _angry_? I've never seen a White Orb look so angry before, Mi. What did you do to the poor thing?"

He was teasing again, but she merely lowered her gaze then quickly grabbed the White Orb which had been whirling around in midair and as soon as her palm closed around it, she stuffed it into her mouth and swallowed it, returning it back from where it came from. "I have never shown it to anyone before. I'm not supposed to. You are a very lucky person."

"Hey, I'm trustworthy." Dante said, grinning.

"...When you had human women before me...how did you explain to them what you did for a living?"

He really didn't like talking about past relationships and he grunted under his breath. "Urh, Mi, why do you have to ask me these kinds of stuff?"

"I just want to know."

"There's not much to tell...they don't understand. It's cool with you though." He planted his palm on top of her head and kept it there. It was true, for when he had human lovers, he couldn't exactly tell them about his profession. They just ended up thinking that he was a shady individual with a shady history and a shady job. Maybe that was why most of his relationships didn't last very long. He gave a shrug, "I dunno, it's easy to talk to you. I can talk to you about anything."

Mia smiled in response. "And do you know why you're so powerful, Dante?" She then asked, as she remained in his embrace. They were sitting in a very comfortable position at the moment and she didn't feel like moving. He didn't feel like it, either.

"I'm powerful...got demon blood flowing through my veins... and don't forget my ravishing good looks." He replied, before he brushed some of her hair away from her face and kissed the curve of her cheek, earning a chuckle from her.

"Well, yes...But that's not all; it's also because every single you demon you kill, they surrender their essence to you."

"You're like a little walking, talking dictionary, aren't you?" He murmured, but then he made a face, "...I don't like what you're talking about. Why are we talking about this all of a sudden?"

She shrugged before muttering, "Do you think all demons are evil?"

"Mi, some demons do evil stuff. Some demons do good stuff. The bottom line is, demons can choose which side they want to be on."

"I've chosen my side."

"Really now?"

"Yes." She nodded intensely, "I've chosen yours, if you'll have me."

"Mm, good choice; of course I'll have you." He replied, giving her waist a tight squeeze and she was giggling.

"Oh. Before I forget, I got you this from the market today." She then pulled out a medium-sized box from the side of the sofa and handed it to him.

He inspected the little dark blue velvet box in his hand. "Hm? What is this?"

"Open it and you'll see."

Dante opened it to reveal a glittery silver chain with the massive words 'KING OF BLING' hanging from it, encrusted in little sparkling jewels. "Huh...I don't know what to say, Mi."

He really didn't.

She was grinning widely from ear to ear, "Isn't it pretty? I asked the man at the stall what would be appropriate for a gift and he asked me what kind of person I was buying for so I told him I was buying for...well, I told him you were quite the...um...well, you're quite 'showy' so he suggested that pendant. I just had to get that for you. Put it on." She chirped, and he draped it around his neck.

The pendant wasn't his style. "How do I look?"

"Great! I picked it because I thought it would go with your complexion." Mia replied, "It really does. It brings out the color of your eyes."

Dante's eyebrow rose as he glanced down at the pendant but nevertheless, he laughed and to keep her amused, he kept it on. It was the thought that counted, right? "I got something for you too."

"Really?" She gushed, "Oh, did you get me another fish? Is it a cod this time? You got me a cod?"

"No, it's not a cod; it's even better than a fish."

She looked at him, confused. For her, what could be better than getting a fish? Suddenly, in front of her eyes, he was holding a single blood-red rose. She blinked at the beautiful flower in his hand and turned to him, wide-eyed. "...For me?" She squeaked, as he indicated for her to take it off him.

"Do you like it?" He asked, as she plucked it out of his hands.

"Of course I like it. It's so pretty." She was squealing-which he hadn't seen her do at all-but suddenly she reminded him of a little girl who had just opened her presents on Christmas day and saw that she had received what she wanted. Her green eyes were dancing with delight and she was beaming, her lips pulled back in a grin, clearly overjoyed.

"Watch out, there's-"

"Ow!"

"...Thorns." He finished dryly as Mia lifted up a bleeding finger.

"That really hurt." She looked at him miserably.

He chuckled and took her hand, inspecting the prick on her finger and the tiny spot of blood before he reached forwards and put his lips over the small cut. Once the cut had healed, he proceeded to hold her hand and kiss the rest of her fingers; she laughed before trying to pull away yet he continued, kissing her knuckles, the rest of her small hand and finally, the back of her palm.

"Alright..." She was smiling widely as she managed to pull back, and with the rose in the other, intact hand that was not in Dante's grip, she murmured, "I've never seen anything like this in the ocean before."

"Sorry, babe. It's a dry-land thing only."

Her face fell, but she smiled again and ran her fingers over the silky petals. "It's perfect. Thank you, Dante."

"Glad you like it," He replied, his eyes were straying to his devil arm Lucifer which he'd mounted on the wall. "'Cos there's plenty more from where that came from..."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I didn't write about the fight with the Sirens because when I was writing it...it was actually kinda boring... :(( I just cut it to after the mission. Have a great weekend~

- Jeralee


	13. The Mermaids Singing

Thank you for the review ! And thanks for the favs and alerts! But argghh I have writers block right now. I don't know if I should just finish up or if I should write some filler chapters but honestly I'm running out of ideas. FML!

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

"So, what's this favor you want me to do for you?" Lucy asked, taking a sip from the frothy rim of her mug.

Mia was having coffee with Lucy again. She didn't tell Dante about the fact that she had met the exact replica of herself who was walking around town called Lucy Pendleton a couple of days ago. And she had secretly requested Lucy to meet her at the same coffee house-the one they went to last time-to ask a favour.

"I know this is terribly short notice, but I was wondering if you could..." Mia began, "...pretend to be me for a couple of days?"

She didn't tell Dante or Lucy that she was thinking of getting Lucy to replace her should anything happen to her.

In response to her request, Lucy spat out a stream of coffee instantly and put down her cup. "What?! Why?" She squawked loudly, and the other customers in the small coffee establishment threw sideway glances to the duo in the corner.

Mia wiped at the table with a clean napkin before handing another to Lucy who mopped at her chin, "My time on land is growing short. This morning, I was unwell and Dante had to nurse me back to health. He stayed with me and he did not even leave my side to pick up the phone; he did not accept a job in order to look after me. I went to the bathroom and I saw scales on my legs. They did not come off. I feel terrible...so I've decided to go on a brief trip; I have spoken to a few sailors before I met up with you and they've agreed to give me a lift out to the ocean-"

"Geez, I can't believe I'm really hearing this."

"-I need to get something." She added, smiling, "It's for Dante; it's a surprise... he can't find out."

"I've never met Dante before. I've been past Devil May Cry but I don't even know what it is. I've heard weird rumours about that place."

"What kind of rumours?"

"Well, mostly about the owner-you know-_Dante_." Lucy said, shifting her eyes from left to right, "He's a musician, or so they say. He's always seen carrying a guitar case and driving in cars that change every two days. He gets these weird visitors as well from time to time. They even say he frequents this diner for strawberry sundaes even though he's like in early thirties or something. I mean, that's just weird. Some people even saw him hanging around with this little schoolgirl. Then there's also this rumour going around that he is a complete drug and sex addict."

"I can't believe there are so many rumours about Dante." Mia muttered.

"Uh...are they true?"

"No. He's not on drugs." She asserted sternly; the need to defend Dante to her best ability was strong. However, Dante was not joking when he mentioned to her previously that he had a difficult time often explaining his activities to his human lovers. To the general population of humans, he must be considered shady. "That's awful. How can people say such mean things about someone they don't even know?"

"Well, if you say he's a demon hunter...and you're a demon, why are you still living with him?"

"I have chosen to be on his side. I will amend my ways."

"Why do you like him so much anyway?" Lucy asked, curious. Now she really wanted to see who this 'Dante' was and what he looked like.

"He saved my life. I was up for sale in an auction and he rescued me from that horrible place. He has saved my life on several occasions now. I trust him and I adore him."

She didn't think she would because she was not currently in any relationship and she had never really been in a proper one, either. "Why can't you just tell him you're going to be out of town for a bit?" Lucy mumbled.

Mia threw her gaze down dejectedly, "No, he'll want to come with me but I can't let him."

"Why do you need to go out to the ocean anyway?"

A small smile appeared on her lips. "It's...uh, well, I have something I left at the bottom of the sea and I need to get it. I'm the only one who knows where it is. Don't worry, some very nice divers are going to help me and I haven't buried it too deep in the sand."

"Mia, don't you remember what happened to you the last time when you went sailing out to the ocean on a 'trip'?" Lucy said, and Mia froze immediately as soon as the words had escaped her lips but she was quick to splutter out apologies. "Sorry, Mia, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." She didn't tell Lucy but she had actually hypnotised the crew of the boating vessel; indeed, she already had everything planned out. She could even hypnotise Lucy if she wanted but she could not do that to the girl. "It's different this time; they are trustworthy people. Lucy, if you do this for me, I'll give you something nice."

"That's not the point, Mia. I really don't think I can-"

"Please, Lucy? If you help me, I can help you with your thesis too. I'll only be gone two or three days."

She took a while, but eventually Lucy nodded, "...Okay, fine. I'll do it. Just for a couple of days impersonating you, right? Can't be too hard..."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Lucy had the feeling she was making the biggest mistake of her life. Here she was, standing outside the doors of Devil May Cry, dressed in Mia's clothes.

_I can do this...I can do this!_ She thought to herself. She had never really been inside this shop before although she had passed it on several occasions. It was always either 'closed'; it seemed the owner was never in whenever she came by.

Despite having a striking familiarity and resemblance to her mermaid/Siren counterpart _Mia_, Lucy was nothing like her. Mia was likeable, gentle and sweet. Lucy felt grubby and coarse compared to the mermaid. Of course she wasn't...Mia was a freakin' mermaid for crying out loud. Even though they looked the same, Lucy did not have her charm and personality...

She grumbled again. With her satchel in hand, she was about to step in when she remembered Mia's wise words to her before she left.

_1. The guy Mia was living with was called Dante_

_2. Mia told Lucy to disregard all the rumours about him_

_3. Dante was a demon hunter_

_4. Furthermore, Dante and Mia were in a relationship that was rather physical._

_5. If he ever made any moves on Lucy, she would just have to avoid him and give him some excuse such as that she wasn't feeling too great. Or she could just try and hit him (not really recommended)_

_6. Mia would only be gone for a span of 2-3 days, and during this time, Lucy didn't even have to stay in the shop with Dante. She could go out, as long as she came back to the shop during the evenings and stayed for the night._

The list ended like a needle scraping on a record.

_Wait. WHAT? Now I need to stay here with this guy?_

Lucy began to get scared.

_This is so stupid! Why did I agree to this? No...I have to go through with this...I agreed to help Mia...I need to uphold my end of the bargain! _

She pushed opened the doors just in time to see a half-naked man emerging from a doorway that seemingly led to a small bathroom. Her jaw dropped to the floor as soon as her eyes settled on his bulging pecs; he was walking out from the bathroom and towards his desk, drying his wet hair with a towel although the rest of his body was still gloriously wet from the shower.

Lucy stared, then snapped herself out of her trance and averted her eyes from his glistening six-pack.

_Oh my god oh my god oh my god. This is even worse than I thought... Who knew Mia could have such a hot stud for a boyfriend?! What am I going to do?!_

She felt something wet dribble from the corner of her mouth and immediately wiped the drool that had begun to leak over her lips in embarrassment, and shivered as though she had felt a chill down her spine.

"Hey baby," greeted the attractive, half-dressed man, "Where'd you go? I was looking all over town for ya."

_Oh my-oh my goshness! I-Is he talking to me!? Oh, right. Of course he is. I'm pretending to be Mia. God, Mia is so lucky... _"U-uh...I-I-I...I went...out. For a walk." Lucy croaked out, her gaze still fixated on his bulging muscles. She let out an uncomfortable laugh and as the man gave her a slight baffled look, she inwardly kicked herself. _Why the hell did I just do that? Aw man, I suck at this..._

Suddenly, the phone rang and she leapt, startled by the loud sound and she saw his black antique phone jiggling slightly on the desk. The man sidled over before flipping over the chair into the air with a kick of his leg and she watched, wide-eyed, as the chair somersaulted and returned to its original position. He then promptly sat down and as he slammed his legs over the surface, the phone went flying and the receiver landed to sit neatly in between his ear and shoulder.

"Devil May Cry." said the man.

Some incoherent gibberish could be heard from the other end of the line.

"Yeah, that's right, somethin' wrong with my order? I wanted a large, no olives. What? Someone's cancelled my order? Some crazy lady? Damn it, I knew this would happen!" The silver-haired man shrugged the phone away from his ear and it went sailing back onto the phone with a loud but harmless 'clang!'. He was grumbling about something until he finally spotted Lucy who was still staring at him, fascinated. "Mi? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." Lucy shook her head quickly.

"What's that you got there?"

"Huh? Oh, this is...uh...my bag." Then she remembered that Mia had no money and only earned some from working as a waitress in the Love Planet (her mermaid counterpart sure was gutsy). _What would Mia say in this kind of situation?_ She thought hurriedly. "I...I saw this in the market and I liked it so I got it."

"Babe, if you want nice things, I'll pay for it." Dante gestured for her to come closer to him, "C'mere."

"O-okay." Lucy nervously sidled up to him and when he grabbed her hand and lifted her into his lap, she stiffened all over. He didn't seem to notice and grabbed at the numerous magazines and newspapers on his desk before he picked up a women's fashion magazine.

"Right, let's see here..." He was flipping it open and turning to her, he added, "What do you want? Tell me and I'll get it for you."

"Oh, um, no that's alright, you don't need to get me anything, Dante..."

"You're too modest." He reached to her as though intending to kiss her and she instinctively shrunk away. "Babe? What's wrong? You're tense."

"Nothing, I'm just..." Lucy left her sentence trailing. This wasn't working out as she had hoped. It was going rather horribly.

Dante watched her for a brief seconds. He could tell straight away that this girl wasn't Mia, from the way she shrunk away from him and her reluctance. For his own amusement, he said, "Alright then, how about you give me a little something? How about a lap dance? A striptease?"

"W-what!" Lucy shrieked, and she abruptly leapt out of his lap and he got up to stand, grinning. Before she knew it and beyond her own control, she had screamed, "No!"

He crossed his arms and gave her a look and she knew she had completely blown her cover. She mentally slapped herself when she realised what he had done and what she had just done. Lucy threw her gaze to the floor miserably.

"Alright, then you better tell me where Mia is." Dante said, and she turned to him in shock. "Where is she?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you. I made a promise." She nervously met his gaze, "...How did you know?"

"The moment you came through the door, you looked terrified of me." He replied, but he was grinning, "You really do look like her though."

She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and smiled wryly at herself. "Yeah, I got quite a shock too when we met." Lucy threw her head down again, "Ah god, I'm so pathetic, I couldn't even do this properly."

"...Did she honestly think she could fool me?" He was muttering to himself, as he strode over to his rack and pulled off his shirt and coat.

Lucy shook her head furiously, "No! Mia doesn't mean it in a bad way. And I'm sorry we had to lie to you. There's a good reason, she's...oh." She stopped in her sentence when he began to get dressed and immediately turned round, closing her eyes. "There's a good reason but I can't tell you."

He was chuckling and she could hear clothes rustling, the sound of a zip being pulled up and a few belts being clipped together. "What's your name?"

"Lucy."

"Well, Lucy, you don't mind if I go out looking for my missing mermaid, do you?"

"I-it's Siren, the correct term is Siren..." Lucy found herself saying, yet Dante was strolling past her towards the door. "W-wait, Mr Dante, Mia's gone-"

"Gone?"

She nodded. "She won't be back until a couple of days; she told me to pretend to be her so you won't be lonely."

There was a silence after her comment. A very long silence. Lucy's face suddenly went red as a tomato.

"U-uh, I-I didn't mean-"

"S'okay, I know you didn't mean it that way." He replied with a carefree shrug of his shoulders, "Care to tell me how you two met?"

Again, she anxiously slid her gaze to the floor and shifted uncomfortably on her spot. "I'm not at the liberty to tell..." _Oh no, at this rate he'll probably get angry...I don't blame him...but if only he knew it was for a surprise Mia had in store for him...I wonder what it is anyway? I should've asked..._

As she watched the devil hunter, he strode to his sofa and lay down. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty four."

"What do you do? Are you working, studying?"

"I'm a Post-Graduate Arts and Humanities student at Capulet City College."

"Whereabouts do you stay?"

"I don't really have a place to crash at the moment, I'm actually-"

He interrupted her. "So all this time there's been a Mia look-alike runnin' around town."

She was spluttering out her explanation, "I-I've never been to this side of the city before, honestly. I mostly go to Capulet City and Fortuna Island only."

"You two related?"

Lucy hesitated, wondering if she should tell Dante. Mia didn't tell her she couldn't, but was this really something she should be talking about, especially since Mia wasn't even here? "...I'm her descendant." Lucy finally replied after a short brief moment of mental debate, "Mia was my great-great-great...uh, great-something aunt."

He opened his eyes and turned to her then. "What?"

"Mia is...well, she-" She didn't know if she should tell him. But as Dante watched her with his icy-blue eyes, she swallowed down and continued, "A long time ago, Mia was the youngest daughter of a rich landlord-"

"How long ago?"

"Maybe in the 1800's." Lucy replied, with a shrug, "She helped out in her father's tavern where she fell in love with one of their customers...Mia wanted to be with him but her father wouldn't let her because the man was poor. He forbade her from seeing him and Mia's best friend decided to help them out. Her best friend would help organize for them to secretly meet up and eventually... one day they decided to elope."

As he listened, he knew that he would not like where this story was heading.

"They would escape by boat in the middle of the night without telling a single soul about what they were doing or where they were going...Mia's best friend would help them yet again...She told Mia to bring with her all the money she had that night. Mia did as she was told. She took all the money she had earned and some heirlooms her parents gave her. However, Mia didn't know one thing..."

Dante sat up in his sofa immediately as though engrossed.

Lucy's voice was growing quieter and quieter by the second, "Her best friend and her lover had actually been deceiving her behind her back, they were actually in this together, and they would trick her into going out to sea with them before...before-"

"They killed her." Dante murmured when she could not seem to finish her sentence, "And took her money."

Lucy nodded. "Then they threw her body into the ocean." She finished quietly.

"Mia told you all that?"

She shook her head, "I'm doing a project about my family history and I found a journal left behind by her mother. I have a photo of her in my grandparent's house. She was reported missing for weeks and believed to be kidnapped. Her body was never found."

"What else did she tell you, Lucy?"

She swallowed down weakly, "Mia said she heard mermaids singing. She was pitied by the Siren Queen who revived her and turned her into a water demon. Mia is cursed to live as a non-human for the rest of eternity." Lucy said, before she added, "When I listened to her tell me all this, Mr Dante, it felt horrible."

"Yep, some demons are born that way, Luce." Dante replied, before he settled down to lay over his sofa again, "Their spirits are filled with so much anger and hatred, they're warped to become evil beings. Then you have those demons that come straight from hell...or those from living things and objects that gains exposure from years and years of darkness and demonic energy and eventually take form into a malevolent entity."

This was perhaps his most meaningful conversation in his life as of yet.

"...This is so interesting, Mr Dante." Lucy muttered under her breath, "If I had the chance, I'd like to study Demonology."

"Not a chance in hell, kid, don't step your foot into the unknown especially when you're not packing heat like mine." He lazily indicated to Rebellion which he had placed on his rack on the wall.

"O-oh, yes, quite true." Lucy stammered out, and she glanced around the rest of his shop, noting his twin pistols that were also resting on his desk.

"Wake up me up if the phone rings." He promptly folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes once more.

Lucy quickly threw her glance to Dante again. "Eh? You want me to...oh, I can stay here...until Mia comes back?"

"You got any other place to stay?"

"Not really."

"Then you can stay."

She smiled. No wonder Mia liked Dante so much.

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

Dante and Lucy decided to go together to the wharf to wait for Mia to return. The past two days had gone by quickly and Lucy had gotten slightly more familiar with Dante but she held no romantic attraction to him. Neither did Dante. She didn't have to ask him and he didn't have to tell her, but Lucy knew he missed her mermaid counterpart terribly.

He spent his time flicking through magazines but would occasionally throw his glance to the door, as though waiting for someone to return. The only time he left the office was to carry out a job then he would come back home and go wash up. Then it was back to magazine-reading or sleeping. Mostly it was sleeping.

Although Lucy looked exactly like Mia, he'd spent enough time with Mia to know the two apart. Hopefully the boating schedule Mia provided with Lucy before her departure was accurate and she would arrive in a few minutes. No sooner had Lucy and Dante arrived, they saw a small fishing boat chugging slowly over the horizon, making its way towards one of the empty docks at the marina. On closer inspection, they spotted a familiar girl onboard.

They made their way over the long stretch of walkway and finally stopped at the very edge of the pier in which Mia's boat would stop at, watching the boat pull up. Mia, who was still on the boat, blinked wide-eyed at the duo before sighing.

"Sorry, Mia." Lucy began, as the crew began to work in getting the ship tethered to the dock; they were currently working on dropping the anchor into the ocean. Lucy added, "Mr Dante saw through it straight away."

"It's alright, Lucy, thank you for all your help." Mia said with a wide smile before glancing to the devil hunter who had been clandestinely yet eagerly waiting her return.

"Mi." He began, as he patted his chest before holding out his arms.

"Dante!" In her excitement, she climbed out of the boat as quickly as she could and stepped onto the pier before diving for him. She leapt into his embrace and he hauled her into his arms; Mia wrapped her arms around him tightly and was rubbing her cheek against him affectionately. She missed him so much.

Whilst Lucy glanced away from the couple in embarrassment, Dante was smothering her with kisses. "Baby, where did you go?"

"You'll see." She beamed and wriggled slightly out of his embrace, snapped her fingers and one of the sailors of the boat emerged, carrying a large seaweed-covered brown chest in his arms. Lucy's eyes bulged as the sailor placed it beside them on the ground. Mia dismissed him with a wave of her hand and they knew she had hypnotised them. "Thank you, I appreciate all your help." She said, and the sailor noiselessly trudged back to the boat, completely and utterly unaware of what was going on.

"That's not what I think it is, right?" Dante muttered with an eyebrow raised.

However, Mia only responded with a keen grin and slid out of his arms. She stepped over to the chest and opened it to reveal an enormous pile of shiny dubloons, pearls, jewels and all sorts of jewellery inside. "Look Dante, gold!" She exclaimed happily.

"Holy crap!" Lucy choked out, rubbing at her eyes at the sight whilst Dante stared, before bursting out into laughter.

Mia squatted down and dug out a pile of dubloons in her palms and handed it to the ship's hypnotised captain. "This is for all your trouble." Turning to Dante next, she muttered under her breath, "Don't worry, it'll wear off in a few more hours. They'll return to normal."

Plunging her hand into the treasure pile again, she pulled out a necklace with a bunny-shaped pendant and the words 'PLAYBOY' along with a handful of dubloons before giving them to Lucy.

"Huh? For me?" squeaked the girl.

Mia responded with a firm nod. "Yes. I hope you like it. I found the necklace near the beach of a resort years ago which is why it's different than what I've got in this pile of old junk, but I think it suits you very well."

"Thank you, Mia..." Lucy murmured, while Dante laughed even louder as she held up the necklace into the sunlight, watching the bunny pendant glimmer and glisten. "I, uh...listen, I'm going to head off now, so I'll see you later."

The devil hunter turned to her then, "Hm? Going so soon, Lucy?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I've taken up a lot of your time already. I also need to make a start on my assignment now. I'll come visit you guys someday. Bye."

They watched her hurriedly retreat from the harbour on her lonesome. She threw her gaze over the shoulder to see Dante and Mia in intimate embrace before they pulled away to grab a handle on each side of the chest and swing it around cheerfully as they walked back towards the direction of Devil May Cry together. Lucy sighed under her breath a little before glancing at the playboy necklace and the dubloons in hand. No doubt, the dubloons would be worth quite a lot if she pawned them in. Mia was too nice to her. She stuffed the necklace and dubloons into her bag and quickly left the pier, arriving into the town square where she began to make her way towards her temporary lodging.

Unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes were watching her every move...

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

Hmmm I wasn't sure if I should reveal Mia's past so quickly and easily like that, but I think this story is almost coming to an end since I'm running out of ideas.

I've added some more stuff about the Sirens/mermaids in this chapter. Dante says this because in some demon folklore, demons are originally human beings 'who transformed into something horrific and grotesque usually during an extremely emotional state' (from wiki lolz). Then there are also demons from objects that are 'exposed' to demonic energy or darkness, although it takes them hundreds of years to finally assume a type of form. It also applies to living things, like animals and even plants.

- Jeralee


	14. Poison

Hey guys, I felt like updating early because I've managed to type the last chapter of this story which is the next after this! Yep that's right, this is the second last chapter!

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

Mia woke up from her sleep, having sensed a familiar presence nearby.

Usually she woke up earlier than Dante but this time when she checked his clock, it was four in the morning. No wonder she was so tired and groggy. However, the arrival of this presence beckoned to her and she sat up in bed. Hopefully, Dante was still fast asleep. She snuck out of bed as quietly and carefully as she could and left the bedroom, peering outside at the empty corridor. Mia made her way down the stairs and stopped as soon as she arrived on the shopfloor. The presence was still strong but it was not within the shop. She opened the doors to Devil May Cry and as she assumed, she recognised the face that was staring right at her a distance away.

It was a girl with long black hair; a girl she had seen before, a girl from the Love Planet.

_Clio._

She was standing at the mouth of one of the alleyways and as soon as Mia met her gaze, Clio gave her a brief nod, turned and disappeared further into the alley. Mia hastily put on her shoes and followed, pulling on a thick jumper to combat the chilly air. She turned around occasionally to make sure she was not followed or that no-one was watching her. Once she was at the alley, she saw Clio waiting for her, leaning against the brick with her arms crossed.

"...What are you doing here?" Mia asked, still somewhat morbidly half-asleep.

"I saw her." Clio replied, "The girl who looks exactly like you. It seems you still have family."

"Yes, apparently I do."

"How did she react, knowing what you have become?"

"Strangely enough, she was not afraid."

"Yes, you are one of the strangest of us, Mia, for you were a lost human soul rescued by our Queen. On the other hand, I have always been what I am and I have neither family nor love to compensate." Clio threw her gaze to the side and sighed, "Anyway, I am merely returning a favour today; as you came to warn us that night at the Love Planet, I have come here to warn you."

Mia glanced around before asking, "...Where's Renata?"

"Renata is dead."

Mia stiffened immediately. She had almost forgotten about that night. Dante and Lady had killed one, and it turned out to be Renata. She glanced at Clio from head to toe and squeaked out, "How did you escape?"

"Renata created a diversion for me and she paid dearly to ensure my survival."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Clio sneered at her venomously and she pushed herself off the wall, "Renata does not need your pity. She served her purpose to the very end. But you on the other hand...you have been frolicking around with the demon hunter, our enemy."

"As long as we don't harm humans, Dante is not our enemy."

"Now you are contradicting yourself." Clio said coldly, glaring at Mia from the corner of her eyes, "Our natural prey have always been humans. You won't overcome your lust for their flesh no matter how much you stop yourself from desiring it, for that is the Siren's curse."

"I will try." Mia asserted firmly, trying to stand her ground, "And I will succeed."

She saw Clio's lips tug into a derisive smirk. "Then good luck with that."

"What have you come to warn me about?"

"It will be a full moon tonight."

"So?"

"The moon affects the ocean in many ways, Mia, therefore it will affect us too." Clio held out her hand to her and in her palm was a small, white pearl. "How have you been sustaining yourself?"

"I've been using my Orb."

Clio shook her head. "That won't be enough. Eat this. It was given to me by the Siren Queen herself; this was meant to be Renata's, but she no longer needs it. I'm sure you must've had a few 'problems' these days. Suffice to say, this will assist you in restoring your power while you remain in this weakened human form."

Mia accepted the pearl, feeling its rounded silky texture as she stared at it in the flat of her palm. "So I need to eat this...?"

"If you feel weak, then swallow it whole. The longer you stay away from the ocean, the weaker you become." Clio said, "This is your human form; the form you take on when you have legs. It is what you looked like, what you were when you were still human. It is only for temporary, a cruel reminder of the life you once had."

"Can we become humans permanently, Clio?" Mia asked nervously.

"You could try," Clio started, "And gain the sympathy of the Queen... Although recently, the Queen has become...indifferent. She is less compassionate than she had been centuries ago, but..."

"But what?"

"You could give her something which you have. I doubt you have anything she desires. The Queen granted you immortality, she can take it away, too."

Mia glanced down, pondering.

"Don't be a fool. That buffoonish man is not worth it." The Siren snarled at her, "You're not thinking about it, are you? Is he really worth all that?! Don't you remember the reason why you are the way you are now, Mia?! It was because your heart was weak and you surrendered it once to a stupid man! Are you going to do it again?"

She shuddered inwardly. "...But..."

"I don't want to hear it. You do whatever you want to do. Just promise me, Mia, to keep the pearl safe and should you ever need it, then eat it." She said, before she turned to leave, "I trusted you, so you can trust me."

"Where are you going, Clio?"

"My work here is done. I am returning to the ocean. If you ever need help, I will come to your assistance the best I can."

Mia watched the Siren leave, watching her retreating back disconsolately. Although she was not on friendly terms with the Siren, she hadn't exactly met with another one of her kind for a long time and she didn't want things to end this way. In fact, she wasn't even sure if any of her kind were friendly at all now. The words Clio spoke were so cryptic and strange. Maybe there were no such things as a nice Siren that did not harm humans.

Mia couldn't help but feel a little alone.

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

**Later.**

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

"This thing's getting really tight." Dante grumbled as he came marching out of his closet, dressed in one of his old, red trenchcoats-the one with the single elastic strap fitted over his chest- He wore that coat when he was facing off the many hordes of demons within the Temen-ni-gru all those years ago. He wore no shirt underneath but the coat was rather tight on him, his biceps looking as though they might burst out of the sleeves at any given moment.

"Of course it's tight, you haven't worn it for years." She said as she sat cross-legged on the edge of his bed, watching him with mild amusement, "And you're bigger and more muscly now."

"So it's not cos' I'm fat or anything, right?"

She giggled, "I didn't think you'd be worried about that."

They were tidying up Devil May Cry. With the chest forgotten because Dante refused to use the gold, stating in these exact words: "What kind of man would I be if I needed a lady to pay for all my crap?" To which the answer was "Not a Very Good One", Mia had sulked at the wasted time. She had checked her legs again in the bathroom only to see the sides of her legs were completely covered in scales. In a couple of hours even, her tail would return.

Perhaps this was goodbye for final...

...Unless there was a way for her to fully become human, to have legs forever.

_Maybe I CAN trade something for legs_, she thought, _Maybe I could trade my voice for legs. The Siren Queen likes voices..._

She wasn't sure if it would work because she couldn't really sing but without the ability to talk to Dante made her depressed, too. She remembered her encounter with Clio in the early hours of dawn and recalled the fact that she had been given a pearl to eat should she ever feel weak or ill.

"Y'know, I've gotten a lot bigger in some areas too." Dante murmured, bringing her out of her thoughts; she glanced up and he winked at her as she stood to fix the lapels of the coat which were standing rigidly around his neck.

She snorted, trying not to laugh, "Oh really?"

"Yeah, I've gotten pretty big; c'mon, you know just _how_ big." He teased and his grin widened, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

"Would you get any bigger?"

"I dunno. How big do you like it?" He said and although they were merely joking, her face went a rather nice shade of deep, deep red.

In response, she grabbed the thick elastic over his chest, pulled it out and let go, making it snap over his chest. He winced with a curt 'Ow' but he was otherwise unaffected. "Behave." She said, placing her hands on her hips.

He rubbed at his chest, chuckling as she pushed down the lapels only for them to spring back upright automatically.

"Is it supposed to do that?" She muttered.

Dante shrugged and began to remove the coat, leaving himself half-naked. "Alrighty then, let's move on." He folded and replaced the old coat into one of the boxes in his closet before coming across his next outfit.

He had never really conducted a spring clean of his closet but Mia said she wanted to see what kind of things he had and he didn't see a problem in showing her what he had. So far, he'd pulled out a couple of old Devil Arms which he hadn't bothered to use such as the Agni and Rudra blades which had a piece of tape stuck across the 'mouths' of the hilts. Then he came across the many outfits he used to wear and she asked him to put them on and let her see. This time, he came across another red coat; it was a lot different than the one he was wearing now; this one was a darker, richer color of red with rolled up sleeves and a soft, black layer underneath. Along with the trenchcoat was a matching red waistcoat with black buckles. This outfit was the one he wore when he was on Mallet Island, fighting against Mundus.

"You really do like buckles, don't you?" Mia asked, as he held it up to show her on the hanger. "I saw it as a recurring theme on the coats you own."

"Yeah, reminds one of BDSM, don't ya think?"

She cocked her head to the side. "What is 'Bee Dee Ess Em'?"

"Never mind." He muttered, "Think I'll fit into this coat?"

She nodded. He took the coat and waistcoat off the hanger and handed it to her; she held it for him as he put on the waistcoat and tried to get the first buckle over his broad chest. It didn't stretch over completely. He moved onto the next buckle nearer his stomach. The same thing happened. He moved to the final one, the last one, and managed to clip it in. She gazed at his exposed stomach. Dante grabbed the coat and draped it on.

"So, which outfit you like the best?" He asked, holding his arms out.

"I like the one you wear right now the best." She replied, fiddling around with a lock of her hair.

He grinned at her and removed the outfit, then grabbed his current shirt and coat only to realise he was actually getting a little itchy. "Hm. Getting itchy. Think I'll take a shower." He murmured, before he turned to Mia and put down his clothes. "You're taking a shower with me too."

"But I'm not itchy."

Suddenly, he grabbed her and pulled her into his embrace and they fell backwards onto the bed beside them. She squealed and tried to escape from his hold, wriggling and writhing around as he nuzzled her and playfully nipped at her neck. "You are now." He said, with a wide grin. She squeaked and tried to roll away from him; he grabbed her and pinned her wrists against the mattress. Although they were only playing, the power he exerted in his mere hold on her had her completely immobile and unable to escape. The pillows and duvet were kicked to the floor amongst the other junk and she quickly admitted defeat by laying still, letting him overwhelm her with kisses.

She was giggling and he pulled away from her. "Hey, Dante?"

He moved so that he was sprawled over her, burying his face into her neck. "Yeah, babe?" He could just fall asleep right now if he really wanted...

"If we really are mates, would that be alright with you?"

"Why'd you ask that?"

"Well, I always thought you would want a stronger person to be somebody you want to spend your life with."

"Mi, you're fine the way you are. I wouldn't want it any other way." He replied, "What about you? You want to spend your life with this old devil?"

She put her hands on his chest and began rubbing in circles, "You're not old."

"_Getting_ old." He reminded her as he rubbed at his chin which was dotted with stubble. It was true. He was getting old. On the other hand, Mia was looking younger and younger with each passing day.

"Then I'll grow old with you."

He chuckled and lifted his head up to kiss her forehead. "I'm poor."

"Yeah, I know that."

"Wait, lemme rephrase that: I'm not just poor, I'm _pretty damn_ poor." He wasn't ashamed to admit it, "I don't have any secret fortune anywhere. I don't have savings, I don't even have a bank account, I'm up to my neck in debt and Lady comes in almost every third day of the week just to harass me about it. I won't be able to get you nice things. I'll say I will but I can't really."

"That's fine with me."

"Demons will come after you every day because you're with me."

She answered with a shrug.

"There are plenty of nice, good guys out there."

"You're good and nice too."

"What if I die first?"

"You won't die."

"What if I really did?"

"Then I would be sad. And I'll want to die too." She said, "What if I died first? Would you want to die too?" She asked, and there was a silence. Yet, before he could reply, she put a hand to his lips. "No, wait. I'm sorry. That's so selfish of me. I don't want you to die. I wouldn't want that. There is so much for you to accomplish, Dante. Don't be like me. I'm not worth it."

The atmosphere had suddenly gone from cheerful to depressing in seconds. Mia didn't know why he had been asking her so many questions. It felt like he was pushing her away from him. He muttered under his breath, "Mi?"

"Yes, Dante?"

"I think you're pretty awesome for a mate."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He replied and she grinned, before she grabbed the pillow and hit him over the head with it playfully

She said, "I think you're pretty awesome too."

"Alright, gimme a hug. Gimme a nice, big hug." He held his arms out for her and she wrapped her arms around him in response. Mia snuggled into him as he clutched her tightly, holding her tenderly in his embrace.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

A few hours later and Dante woke up after having fallen asleep with Mia curled up in his arms. However it seemed during their sleep, they had deviated away from each other. She always preferred the edge of the bed and she was lying with her back to him; he watched her back for a brief moment, raking in the sight before him as she slept, then he reached over and brushed some of her dark hair away, kissing her neck but she didn't respond. He sat up in the bed and spooned her into his arms but when he held her, her skin was freezing to touch. Normally Mia's body was rather cold but not to this extent.

"Mi?"

She did not respond.

"Mi, wake up." Dante shook her but all she was capable of doing was mumbling incoherently. She did not even open her eyes. "Mia, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

When her mouth moved, he put his ear by her lips. "..._Dan...te_..."

"It's alright, I'm here."

"Dante..." She was murmuring his name out deliriously.

This wasn't normal. This was exactly like that morning when he woke up early to find that she was unwell and unresponsive. It was happening again. He brushed her hair back only to realise her forehead was dotted with beads of cold sweat.

"...Water..." She moaned out piteously.

Shit. Not this again. He clambered out of bed and lifted her off the mattress with him, then he hastily carried her out of the bedroom and into the bathroom where he kicked open the door and placed her gingerly into the tub. He knelt down, watching her as he opened the taps, letting cold water rush out and swirl onto the bottom of the tub. The plug was missing as he searched around, eventually finding it hidden away from a trio of old shampoo bottles he hadn't bothered to throw out. The water took a long time to fill up but he spent the time watching her. He pulled up her pant legs to see the sides of her legs covered in scales. The scales didn't seem to drop off her legs and dissolve into the water, however. They had stayed, clinging to her flesh.

"Mi, can you hear me?" He said, but her eyes were still closed. She merely mumbled again, her breaths were very shallow...maybe she was dreaming? He sat down on his bathroom floor and reached for her hand, holding it in his own as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her icy cold palm. Finally, she shifted and slowly, her eyes fluttered open. He sat up abruptly. "Mia."

"...Dante." She breathed out, trying to lift herself up and out of the bath. "...What happened?"

"We fell asleep."

"...I don't feel very good..." She moaned, "...Something's not right..."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I need to...to..." When she didn't finish her sentence, Dante stood up and glanced around as she returned to her comatose-like state. Mia was too weak at the moment.

He stepped out of his bathroom and into the corridor, down the stairs, entering his kitchen. With his preference to takeaways over home-cooked food, he'd never really stepped foot into the room. He didn't even have a working cooker or any other sort of appliance except from a worn down washing machine and his fridge, which he put in the lounge. He found the salt canister on the counter in the exact same place Mia had left it the last time (it had been untouched since then) and he grabbed it then returned upstairs.

Mia was still unmoving in the tub and he poured a large amount of the white granules into the water before using his hand to try and get the salt to dissolve. "Everything's gonna be okay," He assured her as he rubbed at her cold, chilly hand.

He heard the doors open downstairs and stood up. A visitor? He rather reluctantly left the bathroom and stopped at the banister railing, glancing down to see a familiar blonde waiting for him on the shop floor. "Trish?"

"Hey." The tall blonde demon sidled to his desk and sat atop the surface, crossing her long legs.

He checked the clock to see that it was almost seven o'clock in the evening. "What's up?" He asked.

"You look busy. Have I come at a bad time?" She teased, smiling at him as she placed a hand on her hip.

"It could be a lot worse." He murmured as he threw a quick sideways glance towards the bathroom. He would make sure to check up on Mia in an hour's time.

"Is she not here?" Trish asked, "Your little girlfriend, that is."

"Tch. Is that the reason you've come? And here I thought you missed me." Dante replied, but then he shrugged and added, "She's not feeling too good."

"Poor thing. What's the matter?"

"I dunno." He leant off the railing and sauntered back towards the bathroom. Trish slid off his desk and followed him up the stairs. Once she was at the bathroom door, he moved to the side to let her in where Mia had now completely slid underneath the water, lying motionless on the bottom of the bathtub. A few bubbles streamed out from her closed mouth now and then, floating to the surface.

"A water demon." Trish began as she inspected the girl under the water, "She's quite a catch, Dante." The devil hunter moved towards the edge of the bathtub and knelt down; Trish stopped beside him. "Lady told me she's very fond of you. Were you the one who filled her dark soul with light?"

He growled, which only caused her to snicker lightly in response.

"At least you've finally met a nice girl." She further commented, "You can't keep her here like this, Dante. Even if she wants to stay, she'll need to return to the ocean someday soon."

"Yeah, I know." He murmured, "I know."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

**Later.**

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Mia opened her eyes to see the bathroom empty of Dante's presence even though she swore he had just been sitting on the floor beside her, waiting with her. She must have been out cold for a while. She rubbed at her eyes which felt sore and tired, her vision straining against the glare of the lightbulb which was switched on. Figuring she'd had enough of been submerged in an ice bath, she lifted a hand to grasp at the rim of the tub and sat up but her body felt frail and weak. It had happened again.

Sighing, Mia fished around her pockets of her soggy, drenched shirt and pulled out the pearl Clio had given her. Clio said should she ever feel the way she was feeling now, then she should eat it.

Mia put the pearl into her mouth and swallowed.

She didn't feel particularly different and hoisted herself up and out of the water. No sooner had she stepped out, sopping and dripping, she immediately coughed and she doubled over, choking and heaving and blood gushed out and splashed onto Dante's bathroom floor in large puddles. Before long, her hands began trembling violently and she hunched over, gasping loudly.

_W-what's going on?! What's happening to me? Dante, help!_

She opened her mouth, wanting to scream and cry, but the only noises that escaped the back of her throat were growls and snarls. Her hands grew bigger, bulkier, and the skin burst away to reveal a slimy, greenish and scaly claw underneath. She felt her spine pressing outwards, forcing itself out of her back before thick spikes began to erupt from underneath her flesh and all the way to the top of her head. She stumbled backwards, slamming into the tub that it crumbled. She also knocked the taps off with immense strength previously unknown to her.

Mia couldn't stop her transformation and as she slowly lost conscious...

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

By the time Trish left, it was roughly nine o'clock. Time had flown by fast even though they were just talking and catching up with each other over a beer and some pizza. Dante was lounging in his sofa for a short while before he decided to check up on Mia; he had just got up when he sensed something amiss.

Shortly after, he heard a deafening crash coming from the bathroom.

He scrabbled off the couch and stormed up the stairs and once he arrived at the top step, he saw that the bathroom door was open-in fact, the bathroom doorway had been completely destroyed and it was coated in a thick layer of slime and blood- and on the wall, he could see the massive shadow of an unidentifiable creature. On the ground was a giant and bulky, orangey-grey fish tail that was slithering around the corner away from his view, towards the direction of his bedroom.

Whatever it was, and he had a good idea what it might be, he could hear its hard, laborious breathing.

"Mia!" He promptly followed the large, hulking creature but it was already in his room; he heard something shattering and knew it was his window and as he arrived at the corridor facing his room, he could see the creature's tail disappearing; his bed, some aspect of his wall and the window itself was completely bust. Exactly like the bathroom, the entire corridor and the floorboards of his room was covered in a mixture of slime and blood.

What the hell had just happened? He arrived at his newly-broken window and threw his gaze down but he couldn't see anything in the empty streets below. Dante side-stepped around the gungy mess and returned to his destroyed bathroom to see the floor wet, the bathtub broken and devoid of Mia's presence, the wrecked taps throwing cold water in all possible directions.

He cursed and stormed to the shopfloor, picking up Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory on his way out.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	15. Epilogue

This is the last chapter TAT I wasn't sure if I wanted to write a happy or sad ending so this happened.

* * *

**SIREN**

* * *

Somewhere downtown near the harbor, something was amiss: a massive monster had suddenly appeared from nowhere, attacking and devouring humans. Dante was on the case already and so were Lady and Trish.

"Get on." Trish said as she appeared from around the corner of the Bull's Eye Bar, and she stopped beside him on her motorcycle. "Lady should be on her way already."

She didn't even bother to hand him a helmet and as he seated himself behind her, she had slammed her foot on the pedal and they were speeding down the streets. It was chaos all around. "This is bad." He heard her say, her voice muffled by her own helmet.

"It's Mia."

"What happened?"

"She was unwell a few hours ago. I should've paid more attention to her." Dante replied as they zoomed through the roads, weaving in and out between parked cars that were stuck within the massive queues. Many of the drivers had stepped out, yelling and screaming, wondering what the holdup was about.

"I'd like to deal with this on my own if you don't mind." Dante said.

Finally, they arrived at the scene to see a throng of screaming harbour workers and sailors running away from the pier and towards the safety of the town. Trish parked the motorcycle at a random spot and they were shortly joined with Lady who was reloading a new clip of bullets into one of her guns.

"Hey," She greeted them both, "Took you long enough."

"How does it look?"

"There's a giant demon inside the main warehouse. It's been snacking on some workers too." Lady replied, as they all settled their eyes onto the warehouse she had just gestured to. Dante had begun striding towards the building. "Hey, where'd you think you're going?"

"I'll do this on my own."

"No way!" Lady snapped, but Trish stopped her by holding out an arm. "Trish?"

"He can handle this on his own. It's his girlfriend." said the blonde.

Lady raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding me, right?" But then her attention was disrupted when someone rammed into her from the side; a screaming sailor had rushed past, accidentally bumping into her. "Hey, watch it, you ass!" Lady hissed, before Trish began to make her way towards the direction of the car park. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'll be in charge of crowd control." She said with a shrug, whipping out Luce and Ombra from the back of her belt. "I could do with a helping hand."

Lady watched Dante then turned to Trish and promptly followed after her.

**xxxxxxxxx**

The man stared as he saw the massive monster before him. It had trapped him, blocking the exit. He had seen what it had done to his comrades; they had all been devoured, and now he would most likely be next.

"No, no! Please, no!" He screamed as it settled its empty eyes on him; it made a grab for him; he had tried to run but it was faster and it swept him up in one massive swing of its arm. It saw him wriggling in its grip before snorting heavy, warm breath out of its large, salivating jaws. He was screaming now as it crushed him, its talons clamping down and tightening around his tiny body, squeezing.

His bones snapped and blood began leaking out, dripping down its curled fist and onto the floor. He was no longer moving. The stench of blood was strong and the demon's mouth opened to a certain extent. It hadn't feasted on human flesh for a long time. The scent hit its nostrils and it inhaled then exhaled, growling softly. Without a second to delay, the monster lifted him head first into its awaiting mouth and bit down, tearing him in half.

Suddenly, a bullet slammed into it from behind and it turned, with the half-eaten, mangled body in its large, scaly claw. A familiar silver-haired man was standing before it. She was a lot bigger than he had though; he looked so tiny compared to the monster which loomed over him at a great height.

"Mia!" He yelled, holding one of his pistols which was aimed directly at its direction. The demon stared at it before glancing at the nearly-devoured body in its claw. It continued to eat until the whole body disappeared down its gullet head first.

"Hey!" He fired more rounds at it and the monster roared in anger, thrashing wildly. He didn't like being ignored. A dismembered leg dropped out from the corner of its mouth, having been disrupted in its feeding session. "That's right, over here." He crooned as he held his arms out, beckoning it to come closer to him.

Falling for the taunt, the creature waddled towards him, its beady eyes fixed on his form. Dante stared at the large, awkward-looking creature. She really was hiding all that under a cute exterior and slim, lithe body. Mia...this was really _Mia_. The monster reminded him of the one he'd seen in Laurent's basement, except this one's eyes were squid-like and green and its mouth was much bigger, much wider and unlike the other mermaid-Mia had a mouth outlined with circular rows and rows of razor sharp, shark-like fangs sticking out of her gums. Every mermaid must really look like that, he thought. This must be their true forms. And their true forms were hideous.

With an ear-splitting shriek, the demon focused all attention onto Dante; it threw its large webbed claw at him but he evaded by leaping into the air. The fist made contact with the ground and the planks underneath gave way.

"Mia! Cut it out!" He yelled, but his words fell onto deaf ears. He didn't know why she was going berserk or why she had transformed in the first place. She turned her massive weight around and caught him with a swing of her tail. He refused to fight her but she was fighting him and with immense strength, she threw him to the wall of a nearby warehouse.

His back connected with the brick but he was unharmed as he landed. It would take a lot more than that to break a demon hunter.

"Mia!" He tried again, "Mi, snap out of it!"

There was still no response, no matter how much he tried. She was lost. She had lost, succumbing to her demonic, killer instincts. He really didn't want to do this. If he activated his Devil Trigger, the chances of killing her were high. With Ebony and Ivory, he pulled the trigger and the monster was howling, having to shield itself although the bullets were bouncing off rather uselessly off its thick, slime-coated, scaly body. She swung her claws at him, this time smashing them at the wall but he had ducked, and he came at her again.

The creature counteracted with her tail, throwing it towards him in a stabbing motion but he avoided the attacks, even after she hurtled its tail again-this time in a curling motion-and her spikes came shooting off from the flesh, flying at his direction. He knocked them away with his sword but one stabbed him through his thigh, the thin but long spike impaling him cleanly.

He walked across the pier as though the spike did not affect him at all, blood dripping off from his wound. "I know you're still in there, Mi."

She stopped and she stared at him, her massive, bulky body heaving with each laborious breath, and then he thought he might've seen wrong, but he had thought her gaping eyes had turned slightly dilated, wet and somewhat glossy. The mouth was slack and upturned before it closed and she made a noise...it was a mournful noise, a wail, a cry for help...

...but no sooner had that happened, it was as though the demonic instinct took over again and her eyes became sharp and narrow, her irises turning into slits...she belted out, shrieking raggedly, exposing her horrid teeth before she lunged at him one more time, using her mouth as though attempting to devour him; he used Rebellion to stop her and the tip of her fangs sunk into his ribs and back before her jaws enclosed around him completely.

"Mia..." He murmured, but the creature was unresponsive as it growled. Its warm breath blew his hair back and its snarls were growing louder and louder as it wrestled with him, wanting to sink its horrid fangs into his body. But he could not see her as this miserable, wretched being in front of him, instead he saw her as the lovely human he had been with, a human with her long, brown hair and those waif-like green eyes.

With a roar, he shoved her back with all his strength and with his sword in hand, he rammed it through her body and the tip of Rebellion went piercing inside her as far as it could go.

She screamed.

It was over.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**5 days later.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

In Devil May Cry, Lady was standing beside Dante and snapping her fingers in his face, which was conveniently covered by a magazine. Lady and Trish exchanged glances with each other. "What the hell's wrong with him?" Lady muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Trish shrugged lightly and proceeded to chew into her pizza slice.

"He's been like this for days." Lady continued, "It's unhealthy."

"Just leave him." The blonde replied, a little nonchalantly, "He'll be back to normal about a week later. Come back then."

"...Fine." Lady barked, before she stormed back out of the doors.

Trish hopped off the desk and finally, Dante removed the magazine from his face. "...You're leaving too?"

"You need to be alone, I understand." Trish replied as she sauntered towards the doors, "I'll come back to check up on you tomorrow." She winked at him, then shut the door behind her.

He was left alone. Dante leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. It was silent. He glanced at his desk. He looked at his hands. He checked his clothes. He put down the magazine on the surface. Then he looked at the telephone. Nothing happened. He could put the jukebox on... nah, he wasn't in the mood for music. He could always watch TV...oh wait, he broke it the other day...

Dante stood up. He had always been alone, but not like this. Now he_ truly_ felt alone. Although she wasn't in his life for a long period of time, she had been in his life long enough for him to feel as though he was missing something and that quite frankly, without her around, the world had become a cold and lonely place again. He was a half-human, half-demon hybrid...Demons didn't like him...neither did much humans for all that mattered...

And the way things had ended was just...

Suddenly, the door opened and he looked up. There was a man standing at the doorway, looking around curiously before his eyes settled on Dante. Before he could speak, Dante said, "The can's in the back."

"Are you Dante, the devil hunter? Would you be interested in a job?" asked the man, "You see, I've lost something and I want it back but-"

"Sorry, no can do." Dante replied hastily, "I'm not interested."

"B-but!" The man was spluttering, "It's important to me! They stole it off me and I want it back! Please, you're the only one who can help-"

"Here, take this phone number. Name's Lady. She'll help." Normally he wouldn't pass up on jobs but he had a flash of déjà vu although something identical to this had happened before. Dante returned to his seat and grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling down Lady's number before thrusting it out for the man to take.

He stepped forwards meekly and took the slip off him. "O-oh, well...alright, I will. Thank you. Sorry for bothering you..."

The man left. Dante watched him leave, then he left his seat once more and went to the doors where he grabbed the 'CLOSED' sign and stuck it on. However, he could see Lucy outside on the streets, staring at him through the window from her spot. He hesitated, his hand on the string of the blinds.

She was watching him with a rather forlorn expression. No doubt, she was disappointed in him. When she met his gaze, her lip had wobbled slightly before she turned away and began walking the direction she had come from. He guessed she didn't want to come into the shop. Without further ado, Dante pulled the string and lowered the blinds.

* * *

**Several months later.**

* * *

"A _fishing trip_? Are you serious, old man?" Nero growled, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. He was clearly unamused. For obvious reasons.

"Y'know, life's not always about kicking demon butt. Fishing can teach you patience, which unfortunately you don't really have, kid." Dante said, holding up two long fishing rods in hand whilst the younger man glowered at him. "How 'bout it?"

"NO." Nero barked at him, before he turned away and stomped towards the exit. He'd told Kyrie he would be late to see her singing practise for this stupid crap?

"Aw, c'mon, you know want to." Dante yelled after him, yet Nero merely shrugged him off without even glancing over his shoulder.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**5 hours later.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Dante was lying on the floor of the boat with a fishing magazine over his face while Nero remained sitting in his corner, scowling. He couldn't believe he actually let himself get dragged by Dante into this. Here they were, stuck in a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean with two fishing poles attached firmly to the sides of the boat with the lures drifting under the water. He'd been waiting for hours but no fish were biting. This part of the ocean they'd decided to fish in was rumored to be the home of fish of unimaginable sizes.

It didn't matter because they hadn't caught anything yet and the sky was darkening. If they didn't return to the shore they'd be stuck in the sea in the night. This was boring and dull and stupid. He'd choose to pummel the living daylights out of a bunch of Scarecrows any day instead of doing this. He was about to stand up in protest and drive his clenched fist into Dante's face if the tiny boat space allowed him to until one of the rods began wavering.

Something had gotten caught.

"Dante!" He hissed, and the older demon hunter pulled the magazine off his face and squinted his eyes up at the young man.

"...unh...What?"

Nero gestured to the jiggling fishing rod. Immediately, Dante leapt up to stand, rubbing his hands together. "Hehe, let's see what we got here..." He grabbed the rod and began to reel the line back towards him. It was not until a few moments later when he yanked the rod upwards fiercely and a large fish came hurtling out of the waves and landed on the floor of the boat.

The fish was _huge_!

"Way-hey! Check it out!" Dante exclaimed as the helpless fish bounced and jerked around with the lure stuck in its mouth, while Nero scowled at his unmoving, unwavering and un-jiggling fishing rod. "What about you, kid?"

"...Nothin' yet."

"Hmm," Dante muttered as he crouched beside the fish and began petting it even though it was still thrashing and splashing water everywhere, "I'm gonna call you 'Mia'."

Nero scoffed. "You gonna name a fish?"

"Yeah." The older man replied with a casual shrug.

Nero glanced at the poor fish as it continued to wriggle and out of the corner of his eyes, he suddenly saw something bobbing up and down in the water behind Dante, just a short distance away from the boat. He whipped his head up and stared; it was a girl, with white hair and light-green eyes. She was watching them, although her gaze was fixed on Dante the entire time.

However, as quickly as he had spotted her, she had noticed that she had been seen and her eyes met Nero's for a split second before she dived under the water. He saw a large, sleek, orangey-grey tail following her movement before it too, disappeared under the surface.

"Hellooooo? Earth to kid. What's wrong, kid? You look like you just saw a ghost." Dante said, glancing up at Nero who was still gawking at the spot where the girl had been.

"There was a..."

"What?" Dante moved away from the fish and stood up, facing the direction where Nero was staring at, "I don't see anything."

"No, there was a girl."

"Probably just a manatee, Nero. They're pretty common around here."

"_Manatee_?" Nero barked at him with his clenched, glowing fist, "You think I saw a MANATEE? I'm pretty sure I saw what I saw."

"And it was a girl, huh?"

"Yeah." Nero nodded.

"You sure are deprived. Kyrie's not giving you any, is she?"

"S-shut up!" He fumed, his face reddening.

Dante was howling with laughter, "Relax! I'm kidding. What you saw was probably a _Siren_."

"Siren...?"

"Yeah, they're water demons." Dante replied, before he lowered himself to rest on the boat before dumping the fish into a net. "I met one. I called her Mia."

"What? How come I don't know anything about this?" Nero said, as he moved to sit down opposite Dante, who glanced over having realised Nero was now watching him keenly.

"What's the matter, kid? You want a bedtime story?"

Nero was growling again and Dante merely laughed even louder; he enjoyed tormenting the poor kid. "Forget it; forget I asked." Nero grunted under his breath, "But I know what I saw. Sirens, huh?" For some reason he couldn't really find himself believing in them.

"Yep. They're half-woman, half-fish babes. They can come up onto land to mingle and have fun with men. They eat fish and they're fascinated with shiny stuff," Dante mused with a grin. "Maybe one day you'll meet a hot mermaid too, Nero."

"What happened to her?"

"I set her free."

"Which means you're still a lonely old man." Nero muttered, sitting forwards in his seat, "You wanna see her again, dontcha? That's why you dragged me all the way out here."

Dante lazily flicked his gaze to the fishing rod that belonged to Nero. "You've caught something, kid."

"Huh?" Nero's eyes trailed to his fishing rod, which was indeed shaking and quivering. He was by its side in seconds, grabbing the rod and trying to reel in whatever he had caught. Dante watched on, bemused as the younger man wrestled it with much ardor and finally, Nero hauled the line out of the water and they were briefly bathed in the shadow of the massive fish as it went flying.

It landed on the boat with a loud splat! and Nero gaped at the human body attached. It was undoubtedly a female but she had no legs; instead, she had a scaly and dark, ochre-colored fish tail that was outlined with rigid, thick spikes. Her hair was a light brown, long and tangled, and in her mouth was a large chunk of the bait they'd used along with a shiny piece of jewelry.

"I didn't put that on my bait." Nero pointed out.

"Yeah I know, 'cos I put it on." Dante said, grinning, "See? What did I just tell ya?"

Nero merely stared at the back of the half-fish and half-woman creature, transfixed, although when she moaned and turned round and he saw that she was naked, he turned his head away. Dante grinned at him, slapping him on the back, and maneuvered towards the mermaid who was now staring up at them with her blue eyes, wide-eyed with fear. But as Dante approached, she was hissing at him like a cat, shaking her claws and exposing her fangs at him as threateningly as she could.

"It's okay, we're not gonna harm ya. We're gonna let ya go." He said as he crouched down in front of her before he reached into his jacket; he took out a rose from the inner pocket and handed it to her. The rose was a little squashed but the petals were still intact. "Can you pass a message on for me? I want you to give this to her."

The mermaid looked at him, then at the rose in his hand and took it off him, holding the flower with two webbed fingers gently. She nodded.

"Take this with you as well." Dante handed her a large wooden chest which he pulled out from the side of the boat, near the box where they kept their fishing lures. Nero didn't even notice Dante hauling that onto the boat with him. "Oh, and you can keep that." Dante then plucked at the lure from Nero's fishing rod and handed her the shiny jewelry-which turned out to be a ring- and the mermaid was beaming widely at her new gift. She excitedly fitted it around one of her spikes, noticing that it fit perfectly.

"Dante?" Nero began, as he watched Dante pat the mermaid's head and she was blinking at him before he gestured for to return to the ocean. She nodded again, and with the flower and treasure chest in hand, she crawled over the boat's rim and sunk into the water, disappearing underneath. Dante stood back up, shoving his hands into his pockets; Nero casually sidled over to stand beside him.

"They're actually really nice when they're not tryin' to kill ya." Dante said, as the mermaid reappeared at the surface once more, staring at the duo; she was joined by another mermaid with blonde hair and she whispered to the newcomer before they both burst into giggles. Both were gazing rather flirtatiously at Nero's direction and Dante elbowed him with a wide grin while Nero stood awkwardly, his cheeks a little warmer than usual. They watched the mermaids dive, their tails flicking in the air, before they vanished under the surface.

Nero asked, "What do you think it's like down there?"

"Dark, empty, lonely. They don't have castles and oyster beds down there, you know." Dante remarked.

"If she's still alive, why hasn't she returned to you? What's stopping her? What's stopping you?"

He shrugged. "She will, when she's ready." Dante replied, although he didn't reply to Nero's other question; instead, he patted Nero on the head much to the younger demon hunter's annoyance, "Let's fish, shall we? I believe the score is: _me one_ and _you nil_."

"What! But what about the-"

"It escaped, so it doesn't count."

"You let her go!"

"Don't be a sore loser, kid. That's poor sportsmanship."

"I'm not a sore loser!"

"Kid, siddown and do some fishing. The fish won't catch themselves, y'know."

"Fine, let's make it interesting then: first one to land a fish in the next hour gets a free pizza from the loser." Nero barked before he settled himself down to sit in front of his fishing rod, attaching a new piece of bait onto the hook.

Dante grinned and joined his side. "Now you're talking."

-**End**

* * *

**Heeheehee I just love ambiguous endings. Ok it wasn't that ambiguous but whatever. Hope the interaction between Nero and Dante wasn't OOC either since I haven't played DMC 4 in donkeys. It was really fun writing about them! And oh boy I must have a really sick mind because everytime I kept writing about Nero and Dante's fishing rods I just kept giggling. Now I know why there is so much yaoi in this board lol. **

**Thank you very much for reading Siren and I hope you enjoyed it very much :333**

**- Jeralee**


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